
THE HKXDKY RIDGE 

BOY SCOUTS 

(p^K-^TENimFOOT SQUAJI.m^m™ 




CAMPING AT 
RACCOON BLUFF 























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The tree had caught Jem Shock fairly in a trap 








THE HICKORY RIDGE BOY SCOUTS 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


BY 

Captain ALAN DOUGLAS 

SCOUT MASTER 



THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY 
NEW YORK 


Copyright, 1919, by 
jgEW YORK BOOK COMPANY 


OCT 121920 


(V_ 

\ 


©CU601343 


CONTENTS 


i 

o 




CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Surveyor Rufus and His Friends 11 

II. The Game Poacher, Jem Shock 22 

III. “Hit the Knot and Hit It Hard!” 33 

IV. Showing the Greenhorns 46 

V. The Spiral of Blue Smoke 55 

VI. A Little Woods Minstrel 66 

VII. Making a Bargain with Conrad 75 

VIII. A Peril that Lay in Wait 89 

IX. The Strange Message Jem Left 102 

X. A Cabin in the Clearing Ill 

XI. When the Storm Broke 122 

XII. Scotch Blood 133 

XIII. A Call for Help 146 

XIV. Scouts to the Rescue 155 

XV. Rufus Makes a Stand 166 

XVI. “All’sJWell that Ends Well!” 177 



TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


CHAPTER I 

SURVEYOR RUFUS AND HIS FRIENDS 

“All aboard for Raccoon Bluff. Those who 
can’t get aboard take the rail route ! Hi ! Elmer, 
squeeze in!” 

“On deck, Lil Artha ; but do you expect me to 
climb on top of that mountain of camp duffle, and 
other luggage you’ve got piled up, so that your 
car looks like a tin peddler’s outfit!” 

“Oh! we’ve reserved just one crack for you, 
Elmer. That’s right!” sang out the khaki-clad 
boy at the wheel, “work your way in alongside 
George Robbins, who’s holding down the rear 
seat with Lil Artha. I’ve got Alec McGregor 
beside me here. And after all, worse luck, I had 
to leave some things behind that I wanted to take 
the worst kind.” 

“What’s this sticking out — a gun! You ought 
to know that it’s the off season for most kinds of 

11 


12 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


game, Lil Artha,” expostulated the latest passen- 
ger, as, following directions, he painfully forced 
his way into the heavily laden car. 

“Yes, I know, and I don’t intend to do any great 
stunts at hunting, Elmer. I only thought it might 
be good policy to fetch my little reliable Marlin 
along, because sometimes it’s mighty pleasant to 
know you’ve got some means of defense handy in 
case of trouble.” 

“Hear ! hear !” ejaculated the boy answering to 
the name of George Robbins, and who it may be 
said in passing — for the reader would soon find it 
out anyway — was a regular bora “Doubting 
Thomas,” who nearly always had to be shown, 
and seldom believed any statement unless it were 
backed up with abundant proof. “Sometimes 
there are other beasts abroad in the w r ild woods 
besides the common four-footed kind. I believe 
now we’ve all had our experiences with tramps 
and yeggmen of the Weary Willie species. For 
one, I’m glad you fetched your gun along, Lil 
Artha.” 

Meanwhile the driver had once more started 
the car, and they were moving along the streets 
of the home town. Several groups of boys, some 
of whom also wore the well-known khaki of the 
scouts, called out to them in greeting, and even 
waved their hats with a salute. Envious eyes 
followed the car as it sped along in a cloud of 
dust; for it was pretty generally known that the 


SURVEYOR RUFUS AND HIS FRIENDS 13 


lucky five were starting off on a week’s camping 
trip; and those fellows of the Hickory Ridge 
group of Boy Scouts could anticipate a glorious 
time ahead for the favored ones. 

While the big old seven-passenger touring car, 
which the father of Rufus Snodgrass had loaned 
them for the occasion, is speeding along, doing 
very good time as long as the road is fair, a few 
words connected with these lively lads may not 
come in amiss. 

Elmer Chenowith was the leader of the well- 
known Wolf Patrol, and those boys who have had 
the good luck to own some of the previous stories 
in this series do not need to be told that he was 
a capable and resourceful lad, who through his 
merits as a first-class scout had received from 
Headquarters the privilege of acting as assistant 
scout-master, a role only filled by the most effi- 
cient in a troop. 

“Lil Artha” was really Arthur Stansbury. 
When he was very young he had been given this 
nickname, and even after he suddenly shot up 
like a mushroom, so that he now measured a full 
head taller than any of his mates, he could not 
shake off the ridiculous appellation. People 
always smiled when hearing it for the first time ; 
but then Lil Artha treated the matter as a huge 
joke, and often joined in the laugh when the sub- 
ject came up. 

George Robbins was a pretty good sort of a 


14 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


chap, only he did worry his chums by his con- 
tinual fault finding, and that everlasting desire to 
have everything proved before he could “swal- 
low” it At one time he had been inclined to be 
thin, and a rather poor hand at meal times ; but 
of late his folks seldom had to ring the dinner 
bell twice for George; indeed, as a rule he was 
keeping an ear to the ground listening for tlie 
welcome sound. 

The other two boys were new members of 
Hickory Ridge Troop, and had not as yet pro- 
gressed beyond the greenhorn stage. Indeed, it 
was partly with the hope that various opportuni- 
ties for teaching the “tenderfoot squad” — as Lil 
Artha persisted in calling the pair — all sorts of 
useful knowledge that scouts must sooner or 
later acquire, that had induced Elmer to give up 
another partly formed plan and consent to 
accompany the expedition into the woods. 

Rufus Snodgrass was a rather peculiar boy, 
taken in all. Elmer believed he had never up to 
that time come in contact with just such an odd 
fellow. He had been somewhat spoiled by a 
doting mamma, though Elmer believed he pos- 
sessed many good qualities about him, if only 
some revolution could only bring them forward. 

In the first place Rufus lacked self-reliance to 
a remarkable extent. He could not seem to feel 
confidence in himself when some sudden or alarm- 
ing emergency arose. On this account he turned 


SURVEYOR RUFUS AND HIS FRIENDS 15 


out to be somewhat of a failure as a baseball 
player, for when he saw a high ball driven to 
his outfield his heart always sank “to his shoes, 1 ” 
as he told himself he never could get that fly 
in the wide world ; and lacking confidence he sel- 
dom did hang on to it. 

Elmer had faith to believe he could cure Rufus 
of this grievous fault if only he associated with 
him in camp for a time. He would show him a 
score of things such as go to make good scouts, 
and teach him how to “hit the knot squarely in 
the centre,” when chopping wood, to begin with. 

Alec McGregor was a boy who had not been a 
great while in America. His folks, needless to 
say, hailed from Scotland, and freckle-faced and 
red-headed Alec had a delightful little “burr” to 
his tones when talking. Like so many of his 
kind he was inclined to be a bit pugnacious, and 
hot-tempered ; still Elmer believed him to be both 
warm-hearted, and as true as steel. After he had 
been with the scouts a while, and picked up a few 
lessons in the broad principles of the craft, the 
patrol leader fancied that Alec would prove one 
of the smartest members of the troop. 

He had a little sister named Jessie at home, a 
pretty rosy-cheeked Scotch lassie, who was the 
pride of his heart. The boy never tired of chant- 
ing her praises, and often sang ballads, in which 
“Sweet Jessie, the Flower of Dumblane,” occupied 
the leading part. And Alec had a robust tenor 


16 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


voice in the bargain, which his mates always 
liked to hear when seated about the camp fire. 

Now as to their reason for taking this thirty- 
mile trip, laden down with tent, camp duffle, edi- 
bles enough for a regiment, and all sorts of 
traps in the bargain, so that the car did resemble 
a moving van, just as Elmer had remarked when 
it stopped at his gate for him to work his way 
aboard. 

Mr. Snodgrass was a rich man who had latterly 
taken up his residence in the town. He had come 
into possession of a large tract of land, partly 
heavily wooded, and lying up along Raccoon 
Bluff, a place the boys had often heard of, but 
none of them ever visited. 

Now, it seemed that Rufus had just one great 
ambition, which was to become a civil engineer 
when he grew up. His mother had supplied him 
with all the necessary instruments for the calling 
of a surveyor, and for several years now Rufus 
had associated himself at odd times with some 
people engaged in the business, doing very hard 
work for a boy of his customary easy habits, 
simply because his heart was enlisted in the 
game. 

He now believed that he could carry out the 
lines about a tract of ground as well as the next 
one; and upon hearing his father say that he 
distrusted the accuracy of a recent survey that 
had been given him of the new territory pur- 


SURVEYOR RUFUS AND HIS FRIENDS 17 


chased, Rufus became possessed of an idea which 
he was now engaged in carrying out. 

His folks had readily given their consent that 
he should get several of his scout chums to 
accompany him up to Raccoon Ridge, and assist 
him to re-survey the ground. Indeed, Mr. Snod- 
grass, w T ho was not blind to the failings of his 
only son and heir, insisted that he coax Elmer 
Chenowith to go along, as a necessary prelimi- 
nary to his loaning the big car and also paying 
all the expense in the way of provisions. 

The real-estate man was a good reader of 
human nature, and after hearing all the fine 
things that were being said about the Chenowith 
boy he took occasion to have a heart-to-heart talk 
with Elmer, in which he told the patrol leader 
how much he hoped association with a fellow like 
him would be worth to Rufus, and actually 
begged him to consent to be a member of the 
little company. 

So that was the way things stood. Rufus, of 
course, did not know about this secret under- 
standing between his father and Elmer; had he 
done so he might have rebelled, for he was ex- 
ceedingly high-spirited. As it was he felt that 
all these good fellows were only keeping him 
company because of their love for outdoor life. 

It was that, sly rascal, George, who had man- 
aged to get possession of the ear of Rufus, and 
gain his consent to make out the list of edibles 


18 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


they would likely want while away. Which fact 
accounted for the “young grocery store,” as Lil 
Artha termed it, that was taken along. But then, 
no healthy hoy has ever been known to be dis- 
mayed at a superabundance of good things to 
eat; and as Rufus’s father did not object to the 
size of the bill, none of them felt he really ought 
to say a single word. 

They made no attempt to speed, for what did 
thirty-odd miles amount to when in a car, with 
an abundance of gasolene to take one through? 
An hour saw them well on their way. Farm- 
houses were now becoming “as scarce as hens’ 
teeth,” to quote Lil Artha. As they had not 
started until nearly ten in the morning, owing to 
various causes, it was now getting well on toward 
noon. 

“What ~say we pull up at the next farm-house 
we strike, and get dinner, if the good woman of 
the place will agree?” asked the driver of the 
expedition, who had in the beginning laid down 
the law that no one was going to spend one cent 
except himself, for his father had insisted on this. 

“Suits me, all right,” said George, with alac- 
rity. “You see, I had breakfast pretty early this 
morning, and right now I’m feeling about as 
empty as Si Hunker’s hen-coop was that morning 
after the gypsies camped near his place.” 

Some ten minutes afterwards they found a 
wayside farm-house, and the woman, for a con- 


SURVEYOR RUFUS AND HIS FRIENDS 19 


sideration, agreed to cook dinner for the crowd. 
Elmer on his part took occasion to pick up con- 
siderable useful information concerning the 
region which generally went under the name of 
Raccoon Bluff, possibly because there chanced to 
be an unusually large number of those “ring- 
tailed varmints" so destructive to corn fields, and 
poultry flocks, making their dens in hollow trees 
around that vicinity. 

Among other things the farmer warned Elmer 
to keep an eye out for Jem Shock. The oddity 
of the name impressed the boy, and he asked what 
there might be about the said Jem to give them 
any cause for uneasiness. 

“Well, Jem has been a thorn' in the flesh of 
folks up in this neck of the woods for nigh ten 
years now, I guess," was what the tiller of the 
soil told him. “He c’n work when he wants to, 
but he’d a heap rather loaf, with a gun over his 
shoulder. He fishes and hunts out of season. 
I’ve seen him spearing trout, and more’n once 
heard how he was known to be taking meat home 
in the close season, that couldn’t have been sheep 
or veal. Besides that, he’s a quarrelsome man, 
and a desperate character. I wouldn’t trust him 
out of my sight, for I believe he’d steal from a 
camp as quick as anything. But I hope you 
don’t have any trouble with Jem." 

Elmer hoped so, too. At the same time he 
found himself wondering whether, after all, some 


20 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


of those country people might not be judging the 
man harshly. Perhaps Jem Shock might not be 
such a bad character, on better acquaintance. 
And Elmer decided that if the opportunity should 
come to him he would take occasion to know the 
old poacher at close range, so as to study him 
well. 

Once more they were on the move, and as this 
farm-house would be the last they expected to 
run across, all of them were keenly on the lookout 
for signs of the ridge which would mark their 
arrival at Raccoon Bluff. 

They had possibly gone six or seven miles since 
eating that glorious farm dinner, when suddenly 
as they were passing slowly through a piece of 
woodland where the road was a bit soft and wet, 
there rang out the nearby report of a rifle, 
startling them all, and causing George Robbins 
to involuntarily duck his head, as though his 
first suspicion was that some one had fired at 
them. 

Then came a crashing in the bushes, and 
across the road sprang a buck, whose antlers 
were just reaching their full growth after the 
late rutting season. 

Never had the boys seen a prettier picture 
than when that buck bounded lightly across the 
road. Lil Artha mechanically reached out a hand 
toward his gun, though, of course, he never 
would have thought of using the same while the 


SURVEYOR RUFUS AND HIS FRIENDS 21 

law protected the game. Then the frightened 
animal plunged into the thick copse on the oppo- 
site side of the woodland road, and could be heard 
bounding swiftly away. 


CHAPTER II 

THE GAME POACHEK, JEM SHOCK 

Rufus had involuntarily halted the car at the 
very instant the shot was heard, so that the boys 
were stationary at the time the deer leaped past 
them. 

“Oh! what a beaut !” exclaimed George 
Robbins. 

“The equal of any Scotch stag I ever saw in 
the preserves !” echoed Alec, who had stared with 
eyes that were round with wonder. 

“But somebody shot at him, all the same, don’t 
you know, and the close season on in the bar- 
gain,” Lil Artha hastened to say, indignantly. 

“Hush! here he comes!” observed Elmer. 

They all heard a hasty trampling sound, as 
though someone might be hurrying through the 
bushes close by. It came from exactly the same 
quarter from which the alarmed buck had 
appeared. 

Then a moving figure caught the gaze of the 
five scouts. A burly man, roughly dressed, 
22 


THE GAME POACHER, JEM SHOCK 23 


strode into view. He stared at the car and its 
occupants, as though he considered the boys to 
be mostly responsible for his recent ill-luck. 

“Howdye, mister,” sang out Lil Artha, not to 
be cowed by angry looks; “are we on the right 
road for Raccoon Bluff, would you mind telling 
us?” 

Suspicion lay in the look which the man was 
now bending on them. He acted as if he imagined 
they might be more than they seemed; for a 
guilty conscience can discover a game warden in 
every inoffensive traveler, especially when the 
culprit is suddenly caught in the very act of try- 
ing to kill a deer out of season. 

“Raccoon Bluff ain’t far ahead o’ ye, if that’s 
whar ye happen tuh be headin’ fur,” he told them 
grumblingly; “but might I arsk what yuh a-doin’ 
away up here in this forsaken kentry?” 

“Oh!” Lil Artha told him blithely, “we’re off 
on a little trip, and mean to spend a week or so 
under canvas around this section. You see, the 
father of the young fellow at the wheel here, 
Rufus Snodgrass, of Hickory Ridge, has lately 
come into possession of some property up this 
way, and we’re going to find out if it’s been sur- 
veyed right and proper. If you see our smoke 
some time or other, drop in and have a little chin 
with us, stranger. We nearly always have the 
coffeepot on the fire, and the latch-string is out.” 

Perhaps the man may have understood this 


24 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


sort of a genial invitation, but all tlie same be 
gave no indication of being pleased because of it. 
The look of suspicion could still be noticed about 
his dark face, and he twisted his rifle about in his 
hands kind of nervously, as though he wished he 
could keep it from being seen. 

“I reckon I ain’t a-goin’ tuh bother ye much, 
strangers,” he mumbled. “I got my own business 
tuh look arter. Yuh see, I’m the assistant game 
warden o’ this region, an’ it takes a heap o’ 
trampin’ tuh kiver my territory.” 

With an odd sort of chuckle and grin he nodded 
his head toward them, and then whirling on his 
heel vanished amidst the scrub. They soon lost 
track of his retreating footsteps. 

Lil Artha laughed in his peculiar way. 

“Huh! smoked the coon out, didn’t I? Game 
warden, did he call himself! Whoo! to think of 
his colossal nerve! I bet you any warden in the 
State would give a month’s salary to have been 
here, and caught him in the act of shooting at a 
deer when the law is on.” 

“Then he was a braw poacher, was he!” burst 
from Alec. “Aweel, I can feel for him in a way, 
because, to tell you the truth, lads, I’ve snared 
my hare more than a few times across the big 
water. But then it’s different there, because all 
the game country is owned by rich dukes and 
lords, and the poor man hasn’t any show; while 
over here all he has to do is to tramp off into the 


THE GAME POACHER, JEM SHOCK 25 


wild woods for a couple of days, and take his 
chances. 

“Elmer, do you think that could have been Jem 
Shock V 9 asked Rufus just then. 

The patrol leader showed his surprise, for up 
to then he did not know that Rufus had ever 
heard that name ; at least, the other had kept his 
knowledge to himself, for some reason or other. 

“Pm pretty sure that's who he is,” he told the 
boy at the wheel; “but how did you know about 
him and his ways ; when the farmer only told Lil 
Artha and myself?” 

Rufus chuckled, and looked wise. 

“Oh! I plead guilty,” he acknowledged. “I 
heard stories about Jem Shock before I left 
home, but I wasn’t silly enough to pass them 
along to the rest of the party, because some of 
you might have changed your minds, and found 
an excuse for not coming on the trip.”’ 

Lil Artha snorted indignantly. 

“Now, don’t get mad, Lil Artha,” said Rufus, 
promptly. 

“Oh! Pm not riled so much because you kept 
your knowledge to yourself, Rufus,” the tall scout 
told him ; “but on account of you thinking Elmer, 
George and myself could be shooed off by such 
a little thing as that. If you looked back at the 
history of the Wolf Patrol you’d find that the 
boys belonging to it have all been through a heap 
of excitement. We’ve exposed so-called ghosts, 


26 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


had adventures with ugly hobo bands, been in 
forest fires, fought floods and — well, time wouldn’t 
allow me to enumerate one-half of the things that 
have befallen us.” 

“That’s enough, Lil Artha,” said Elmer, seek- 
ing to soothe the long-legged scout, and pour oil 
on the troubled waters. “Rufus will come to 
know us better after he’s graduated from the 
tenderfoot class. But suppose we start on again. 
That incident is closed. We may and we may not 
see more of Jem Shock. For myself, I’m half 
hoping I do, because he’s something of a charac- 
ter, and opens up a new type for a fellow to 
study.” 

“So far as I’m concerned,” observed Rufus, 
scornfully, “I hope we never run across him 
again. He looked like a bad egg to me, and his 
eyes had a wicked stare in them, that I didn’t 
like.” 

“Oh! that can be easily accounted for,” said 
Elmer, as the car once more commenced to glide 
along the rough woods-road. “You see, in the 
first place he had that feeling of guilt that makes 
a rascal look at all the rest of the world as his 
enemies. Then again I half imagine Jem thinks 
the game wardens are back of our coming up to 
this neck of the woods.” 

“Game wardens, Elmer !” exclaimed Alec ; “how 
could that be, and what would scouts have to do 
with the officers of the State?” 


THE GAME POACHER, JEM SHOCK 27 


“Well, scouts seem to have a hand in a good 
many things that are connected with keeping the 
laws, and making communities live on a higher 
standard,” the patrol leader explained. “I could 
tell you of dozens of things our troop has been 
connected with along those lines. And why 
shouldn’t they enter into an arrangement with 
the head warden to get evidence against some of 
these guides who kill deer out of season, and 
hotel proprietors who offer it to their guests as 
‘mountain sheep’!” 

Alec apparently was a bit puzzled to under- 
stand all this, and so Lil Artha, leaning forward, 
took occasion to explain it more fully as they 
continued on. 

They were passing into an even wilder section 
of country than any thus far encountered. Not 
a sign of the white man’s presence could they see 
except in some sections where the original timber 
had been cut away years back, and a second 
growth now covered the land ; with here and there 
an old forest monarch left to overtop its neigh- 
bors like a giant looking down on a pigmy host. 

“This just suits me to a fraction,” Lil Artha 
was saying, as they began to ascend what seemed 
to be another rise of land. “Why, it’s as free 
from the restraints of civilization as that Adiron- 
dack region where we went with Toby Jones last 
winter, to visit his hermit uncle, Caleb, who was 
living all by himself in the heart of the wilderness. 


28 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


My lands! if only I thought we’d have half as 
much fun on this trip as we ran across then, I’d 
be happy as a clam at high tide.” 

“Perhaps we will,” Elmer told him. “You 
never can tell what’s ahead of you when starting 
out on one of these trips.” 

He was thinking at the time of Jem Shock, and 
wondering whether the poacher might not take it 
into his head to make things interesting for them 
during their stay along Raccoon Ridge. Secretly 
Elmer was almost hoping he would see something 
more of the strange man. He wondered how 
Jem lived; what his ambition, providing he had 
any, might be; whether he cared for a single 
human creature besides himself in all the wide 
world — these and many more thoughts were grip- 
ping Elmer’s mind, and he could not shake them 
off. 

Although, of course, he did not know it at the 
time, still it was fated that the golden opportu- 
nity he so eagerly sought was destined to come 
his way under conditions of a peculiar nature. 
But of that more anon, since it would be hardly 
fair to lift the curtain now, and disclose the pres- 
ence of coming events long before they were due 
to arrive. 

“Don’t you think this must be the place they call 
Raccoon Bluff, Elmer f’ asked George just then, 
as they continued to climb the rise by means of 
the winding road, so seldom used that Rufus had 


THE GAME POACHER, JEM SHOCK 29 


the greatest difficulty in forcing the car over 
exposed roots and outcropping rocks. 

“Pve been looking around/’ explained the scout 
leader, “and according to what that farmer told 
me, I’m sure this is our destination. We can keep 
our eyes on the lookout for a suitable camp site 
right along now. There’ll be plenty of time for 
us to get our tent fixed, and a lot of other things 
done, before sunset comes.” 

“Well, we seem to have mounted to the crest of 
the bluff, if that’s what this rough piece of ground 
turns out to be,” said Eufus, with a sigh of relief, 
for at times he had found it hard work navigating 
the rough road, and occasionally he almost feared 
they would have to get out and walk the balance 
of the way. 

A couple of minutes later and Elmer called 
out to him to stop the car. 

“I think I glimpse a dandy place for a camp 
over yonder!” was what the patrol leader re- 
marked to the others, pointing as he spoke. “And 
see what a glorious view we’ll have all the time 
we’re here.” 

They faced the west, where the sun was heading 
toward the horizon, though a good two hours must 
elapse before he sank from view. Through open- 
ings in the dense forest they could obtain fine 
glimpses of distant parts. It was really as 
delightful an outlook as any of the scouts had 
ever gazed upon. Alec McGregor, accustomed to 


30 TENDERFOOT SQUAD 

those Scotch mountain views, was loud in his 
admiration. 

So Rufus brought the car as near the camp site 
as was possible, and then all of them leaped out. 
Filled with a burning desire to get things started 
they proceeded to carry the cargo of the big tour- 
ing car across the intervening ground. 

Lil Artha, George and the leader held a brief 
discussion as to the exact spot that was most suit- 
able for erecting their waterproof tent, rendered 
so through a process of tanning that changed its 
color to correspond with their own khaki-hued 
garments. 

This important detail being finally settled they 
began work. Alec and Rufus, being tenderfeet, 
of course had to be told about everything they 
attempted; but as the spirit of willingness was 
strong upon them in the beginning, they carried 
out orders cheerfully enough. 

Elmer was looking for that inherent weakness 
on the part of Rufus to crop out, and sure enough 
it came to the surface before they had been a full 
hour on the ground. The tent having been prop- 
erly set, and a fireplace built after the most ap- 
proved scout fashion by Lil Artha, with the two 
new fellows taking accurate notes so they could 
in turn carry out a similar task, Rufus was set 
to work chopping firewood, while Alec had been 
given another job connected with making a drain 
on the upper side of the tent. 


THE GAME POACHER, JEM SHOCK 31 


“That is so the water will run aside, and not 
flood us out,” explained George, who was directing 
operations in this quarter. “You see, we may 
have a whopping big storm while we’re up here, 
and again not a drop of rain may fall ; but all the 
same a true scout gets things ready to meet an 
emergency. That’s what our motto ‘Be Prepared’ 
stands for. It’s a sort of insurance against pos- 
sible loss by fire. Your house may never burn 
down; in fact, you don’t expect it ever will, but 
you take out a fire policy all the same, if you’re 
a wise dicky.” 

“I get what you are telling me, George,” ad- 
mitted the shrewd Scotch lad, “and all the while 
I’m understanding this scout business better. 
There’s a muckle mair in it that I used to ken, but 
I like the way it turns out ; and I’m o’er glad now 
I joined the ranks o’ the scouts.” 

Meanwhile Rufus was having his troubles 
a-plenty. Evidently he was not very well posted 
as to the best way of handling an ax, though he 
swung the tool with quite a lusty stroke, Elmer 
noticed. For some little time he managed to 
smash a certain amount of wood, but finally he 
seemed to have run across a section of hard oak 
that was giving him a lot of trouble. 

He stopped several times to wipe his reeking 
forehead with his big red bandanna. Elmer could 
see him shake his head as though he felt that he 
was up against a hard proposition. For some 


32 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


time the scout leader did not interfere. When, 
however, he saw Rufus throw the ax down petu- 
lantly, as though determined to give the job up 
as a bad bargain, Elmer concluded the moment had 
come for him to take a hand in the game and 
pilot the tenderfoot through his initial troubles. 

As a greenhorn in camp, Rufus must be expected 
to do considerable of the fuel getting; and in 
order to meet his duties with the least possible 
friction and trouble, the sooner he learned how 
to handle an ax properly, the better for his peace 
of mind. Besides, Elmer did not like to see that 
“white flag” business. He disliked a quitter above 
all things ; and was grimly determined that before 
that camp broke up the said Rufus would have 
learned a lesson or two that would be profitable 
to him. 


CHAPTER III 


“hit the knot and hit it hard l” 

“How are you coming on, Rufus?” asked Elmer, 
pleasantly, as he dropped down on the log along- 
side the perspiring chopper. 

Rufus laughed, a little unpleasantly, Elmer 
thought. 

“Oh! I guess I was never cut out for a hewer of 
firewood, Elmer,” he remarked indifferently. 
“Some fellows may take to that sort of thing, but 
I incline in the direction of less strenuous employ- 
ment. I can fiddle with a surveyor's outfit all day 
long, tramp through the woods and the brush, cut 
a path, and enjoy it all; but swinging an ax 
doesn’t seem to be my forte.” 

“Then if I were you, Rufus,” the other told him, 
quietly, “I’d shut my teeth together and make it 
my forte. I never would let a little thing like that 
get the better of me. Why, I couldn’t sleep easy 
at night if I did.” 

Rufus moved a little uneasily at that. He un- 
doubtedly must have guessed that the scout-mas- 
33 


34 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


ter meant to reprove liim for giving up so soon. 
Then he shook his head and frowned. 

“Oh! there’ll be heaps of other things I can 
tackle around the camp, besides playing wood- 
chopper, Elmer, that’s sure. I’ve given it a fair 
trial, and don’t seem to get the hang of the old 
thing. Why, it’s lucky, I reckon, I didn’t smash 
my foot. My hands don’t seem to tackle the ax 
properly. Alec may be better suited to it.” 

“It isn’t hard, once you learn,” said Elmer. 

“Well, I’ve given it a try, and I’m ready to call 
it off, though I know you don’t like to hear that 
kind of talk,” grumbled Rufus, actually turning 
redder than ever with confusion as he felt the 
eyes of the other fastened upon his face. 

“That’s not the spirit in which a scout who has 
any respect for himself should act,” Elmer told 
him, slowly and with a friendly slap on the shoul- 
der. “Deep down in your heart, Rufus, you just 
know that you can master such a little job as 
learning how to handle an ax, if only you keep 
persistently at it, and never give up. A scout on 
being baffled once or twice just sets his teeth 
together, takes a fresh grip on himself, and says 
he’s going to do that thing, no matter if it means 
trying sixty-seven times. It’s the old maxim of 
Tike’s Peak, or Bust,’ which the emigrants across 
the great plains years ago used to paint on their 
wagon-tops. And generally they got there, too, 
remember, Rufus.” 


“HIT THE KNOT AND HIT IT HARD !” 35 

Then Elmer got up and took hold of the offend- 
ing ax. 

“Now, if you watch me you’ll see just how I 
swing it, and bring it down in the exact spot I 
want to strike,” he went on to say, after which 
he made several strokes and the stubborn piece 
of oak that had resisted all the efforts of Rufus 
to split it fell into two slabs. 

“Well, that was certainly fine,” admitted the 
boy, wonderingly; “but you’re an old hand at it, 
Elmer. I’d never be able to do that sort of work.” 

“Get that notion out of your head in the begin- 
ning, Rufus,” he was told, sharply. “There’s no 
reason in the wide world why you shouldn’t make 
a good axman, perhaps even better than any of us. 
You’re strongly built, and can put a heap of mus- 
cle in the work. At first you’ll strike poorly, until 
you grow accustomed to landing on a given spot. 
Practice makes perfect in that particular. And 
now, there’s one great lesson for you in chopping 
wood, just as there is for every beginner. Take 
a look at the stick, see which way it will split 
easiest; and then if there’s a nasty knot in it, as 
there was in the one you tackled, strike the blade 
of your ax straight into the centre of that knot 
again and again , until you succeed in making it 
give up the ghost. Hit the knot, Rufus, and hit 
hard ! That ought to be a maxim you’d find ring- 
ing in your ears every time you feel tempted to 
be a quitter!” 


36 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


That last word stung, just as Elmer meant it 
should. Rufus flushed, and jumped to his feet 
almost half angrily. 

“Here, give me that ax again, Elmer,” he said 
between his set teeth; “and pick out for me the 
toughest old chunk of oak you can find. We’ll 
see if Pin a quitter. Pll hit the knot, and hit her 
hard, to boot ; you watch me !” 

Elmer hastened to accommodate him. He was 
secretly congratulating himself on his success so 
early in the game. It chanced that a second frag- 
ment of oak lay near by, and offered a fairly good 
test, as it, too, had a difficult knot in its heart. 
He showed Rufus just how to take the right sort 
of grip on the ax, and several times corrected him 
when he struck violently. Of course the blows 
lacked much of the accuracy that long practice 
gives, and thus considerable energy was wasted; 
but after he had been working away for five min- 
utes, a lucky stroke caused the thick bit of oak to 
fall apart. It had been done by keeping up a con- 
stant pounding at the centre of resistance, which 
in this ease was that tough knot. 

Rufus was perspiring, and short of breath after 
his exertion, but there was a look of extreme pride 
on his flushed face, and his eyes kindled also. 
Indeed, there was good reason for his self-con- 
gratulation ; he had proven to himself that “where 
there is a will there is a way”; and possibly for 
the first time in his life Rufus realized the power 


“HIT THE KNOT AND HIT IT HARD!” 37 


that one may command when determined not to 
give in. 

“Well, I did do it, didn’t I, Elmer ?” he chuckled, 
visibly pleased. “And next time I won’t be so 
ready to throw up the sponge. I was a little bit 
huffed because you spoke the way you did, Elmer, 
but now I thank you. I wouldn’t be surprised but 
that I’d have caught that big fly last summer 
instead of muffing it, and losing the game for our 
side, if only I’d made up my mind I could hold it, 
and must.” 

“That’s the ticket, Rufus,” the other told him. 
“Confidence is half the battle, and the rest is in 
doing it. But you’ve chopped enough for a while ; 
better change work and give some other set of 
muscles a chance to get busy.” 

“Now, that isn’t a bad idea, either, Elmer,” 
Rufus went on to say. “I’d like to take a little 
turn out of camp before evening comes on, be- 
cause somehow I seem to have a sneaking notion 
we’ll run across one of the survey lines close by 
here. You see, they run down from the bluff 
across that wide stretch of country toward the 
setting sun; and by pushing along the ridge we 
ought to find a slashing.” 

“Well, if you can coax George, here, to go with 
you, Rufus,” the patrol leader remarked, “I’ve 
no objections. I can understand how eager you 
must be to get your location fixed in the start; 
and I expect you’ll sleep easier tonight if you 


38 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


learn that our camp happens to be near one of the 
survey lines.” 

George upon being appealed to readily agreed 
to go with the greenhorn. He knew why Elmer 
had made this arrangement; for as Rufus was 
quite a novice ir most things pertaining to wood- 
craft, the chances were he would get lost the first 
thing. If given an opportunity, George, as a 
first-class scout, could begin the education of the 
tenderfoot thus placed in his charge ; and the first 
lesson would be upon various methods of learning 
how to make his way through the densest forest 
when caught without a compass, and unable even 
to see the sun so as to know east from the west, 
the north from the south. 

So George took great pride in explaining how 
the moss on the trees would serve as an almost 
infallible guide, all else failing. 

“You see, in this section of country nearly all 
the big storms come from the southwest,” he told 
Rufus as they walked on. “The moss is almost 
always on the north side of the trees, veering just 
a little toward northeast. Notice that fact well, 
Rufus, and never forget it. Some time it may 
save you heaps of trouble ; I know it has me, and 
lots of other scouts in the bargain.” 

Finding that the tenderfoot seemed to show con- 
siderable interest, George went on to tell of other 
facts connected with the important subject. 

“Now,” he observed, soberly, “you may think 


“HIT THE KNOT AND HIT IT HARD!” 39 

I’m going to a lot of trouble telling you all this, 
Rufus ; but if ever you do get lost in the woods, 
and keep wandering around for hours, and then 
have to make a lonely camp, and sit up most of 
the night listening to the owls and foxes and such 
things, why, you’ll understand why it’s so impor- 
tant a thing in the education of a scout.” 

Meanwhile Lil Artha and Alec were trying their 
hands at the woodpile ; for as the elongated scout 
explained to the Scotch lad, they would have need 
of considerable fuel during the long evening, as 
they sat by their tire and talked. 

Alec proved to have enough stamina, at least; 
there was a stubborn streak in his Scotch blood 
that would never allow him to give up easily. 
Nevertheless, Lil Artha knew Alec had faults that 
must be corrected before he could reach that con- 
dition of excellence that all true scouts aspire 
to attain. 

He had a hasty temper, like most red-haired, 
impulsive boys, and was, moreover, a little in- 
clined to be cruel, especially toward dumb ani- 
mals. Lil Artha, himself, had once been the same 
sort of a chap, and could readily sympathize with 
Alec; but at that he meant the other should see 
the error of his ways, and reform. So the tall 
member of the Wolf Patrol took it upon himself 
to be a mentor; and who so well fitted for the 
task as a boy who had had personal experience? 
No one can preach temperance so splendidly as 


40 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


the man who, himself, has passed through the 
fire of unbridled passions, and learned the folly of 
giving way to them. 

Alec was particularly interested in the subject 
of the reversal of his badge. He had* of course, 
followed the customary habit of all scouts by fas- 
tening this to his coat in the morning in an upside- 
down position, until he found some opportunity 
for doing a good deed toward some one, which act 
allowed him to change its position. 

“That was easy enough at home, d’ye mind, 
Lil Artha,” he was saying, as he rested upon his 
ax, and recovered his breath, “because a fellow 
would be a gillie if he couldnae find mony a chance 
to do something for sae sweet a bairn as our little 
Jessie. But it’s going to be a harder task away 
up here in the wilderness, I trow.” 

“Oh! I don’t know about that, Alec,” the other 
told him, encouragingly. “All you have to do is 
to keep your eyes about you. There are four 
chums around, and if at any time, for instance, 
you took a notion to dc my stint of wood-chop- 
ping, that ought to entitle you to turn your badge 
over, because it would be a good deed, you see.” 

Alec looked queerly at him, and then laughed. 

“But it would be depriving you of your neces- 
sary exercise, Lil Artha,” he hastened to say, “and 
that I’d hate to do.” 

“Well, seriously speaking then, Alec, there are 
endless ways of doing good. You needn’t be con- 


“HIT THE KNOT AND HIT IT HARD!” 41 

fined to lending a helping hand to human beings ; 
a boy who takes a stone out of the shoe of a limp- 
ing mule is just as much a benefactor as the one 
who helps a poor old woman across a crowded 
street, or carries her heavy basket part of the way 
home from market. Pve bound up the broken 
wing of a crow; yes, and I knew a scout who even 
helped one of those queer little tumble-bugs get 
his ball up a little rise, after he’d watched him 
fall back a dozen times, and then claim the right 
to alter his badge. The rest of the troop laughed 
at him, but the scout-master hushed them up, and 
said the boy was right ; and that not only had he 
done a good deed toward one of the humblest of 
created things, but he had learned a practical 
lesson in pertinacity and never-give-upitiveness 
that would be of great value to him all the rest 
of his life.” 

“Nae doot, nae doot,” muttered the Scotch lad, 
reflectively, as though Lil Artha’s interesting 
words had found a firm lodgment in his heart. 
“I can see where it is a verra interesting subject, 
this scoutcraft, Lil Artha. And ye ken Pm mair 
than glad now I took up with it.” 

“And as you get to be more intimate with the 
little animals of the woods,” continued the experi- 
enced scout, “you come to like them as brothers. 
We usually have a pet squirrel ducking about the 
camp, picking up the crumbs ; and birds will come, 
too, if you’re kind to them. All those little things 


42 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


help to make an outing more enjoyable, you’ll find, 
Alec, the deeper you dip into them.” 

Alec scratched his head as though he found it 
just a little difficult to understand; he had been 
raised under such vastly different conditions that 
it would take some time to change his habits, Lil 
Artha realized. Still, he liked the tenderfoot very 
much, and meant to do all he could to make him 
see things through another pair of spectacles than 
those he had used in the past. 

Already his lessons in handling the ax had 
borne fruit, and Alec gave promise of soon becom- 
ing an expert at the job. His success also gave 
the greenhorn a new-born ambition to excel in 
other branches of scout education. Lil Artha did 
not believe he would have much trouble in post- 
ing Alec; getting him to govern his temper, and 
be kind to everything that had life, would be 
another proposition; but constant association 
with such a fellow as Elmer Chenowith was bound 
to work a change little short of miraculous, Lil 
Artha had faith to believe ; for he knew personally 
what the patrol leader was able to accomplish in 
his quiet, persistent way. 

“After you’ve finished with that log, Alec,” he 
told the other, “we’ll start our fire. I want to 
show you just how to go about that task, because 
there are a hundred things connected with making 
a fire that you’ll find mighty interesting.” 

“Ye don’t say, Lil Artha? I didna ken that 


“HIT THE KNOT AND HIT IT HARD!” 43 


there was more than one way to start a blaze, 
which was to sticket a match to the paper, and let 
it go at that.” 

The tall scout laughed delightedly. Really, he 
would find great pleasure in showing this green- 
horn how many curious ways there were of start- 
ing a fire. Lil Artha had made this a sort of fad 
for some time past ; and while several tricks were 
still beyond his comprehension, he had mastered 
a number of others ; so that he could start into the 
woods minus a single match, or even a burning 
sun glass, and make a fire in any one of five dif- 
ferent ways. 

“Oh! I can see where you’ve got a whole lot 
to learn, Alec,” he told the other. “I’ll promise 
to show you some interesting things while we’re 
up here in the Raccoon Bluff camp. For instance, 
I’ll make a blaze by rubbing flint and steel 
together, like the old Indians used to do centuries 
back on this continent. Then I’ve a little trick 
with a couple of sticks and some dry tinder to 
catch the spark.” 

“Ye maun show me that, for a certainty!” cried 
the other, “because I’ve read of it in Robinson 
Crusoe, or some ither book of travel and adven- 
ture amang the islands of the sea.” 

“Oh! there are lots of other ways for doing it 
in the bargain,” pursued Lil Artha, now upon his 
most favored subject. “You’ll think it a most 
fascinating thing, Alec, I promise you. And once 


44 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


you wake up to the fact that a scout can learn 
a thousand facts, if only he uses his eyes and his 
head, you’ll be more than glad you joined the 
troop. Why, we live in a world of our own, and 
the poor ninnies outside don’t have one-tenth of 
the fun that falls to us.” 

“There come Rufus and George,” remarked 
Alec. “They look unco’ pleased, as if they had 
discovered the slashing they went to look for. I’m 
a little interested in survey work mysel’. Rufus 
is clean crazy over it, too, and sometimes his 
fash is all aboot theodolites and chains and com- 
passes and the like. They told me he was lazy, 
but if ye seed him workin’ at the business he 
loved, ye’d know they leed, they leed.” 

Alec turned back to his work of splitting the 
log he had attacked. Already he had a wedge 
well driven into its heart. A few more lusty 
blows of the ax and he had opened another cleft 
further along, into which he was able, with Lil 
Artha’s directions, to place a second wedge. 
After that it was easy to continue lengthening the 
split until with a doleful crack the log fell apart, 
having been cleft in twain. 

“That will do for now, Alec,” said Lil Artha. 
“You have done splendidly for your first real les- 
son in wood-chopping, and I can see with half an 
eye that you bid fair to beat us all at the game, 
given a little time, and more experience. You’ve 
got a great swing, and seem able to hit a space the 


“HIT THE KNOT AND HIT IT HARD! ”45 


size of a dime, every time you let fall. That’s 
half of the battle in chopping, to be able to drive 
true to the mark; because there’s energy wasted 
in false blows.” 

Alec looked pleased. A little praise judiciously 
bestowed is always a great accelerator in coaxing 
reluctant boys to take up their tasks cheerfully; 
and wise Lil Artha knew it. 

Just then Alec happened to catch a glimpse of 
something moving amidst the branches of the tree 
over his head. Lil Artha had turned aside, and 
did not chance to notice what the other was doing, 
as the Scotch lad, stooping down, snatched up a 
stout cudgel, and hastily threw it aloft. 

His aim must have been excellent, judging from 
the immediate results. Lil Artha heard him give 
a satisfied cry, which, however, almost imme- 
diately changed to a howl of alarm. Whirling 
around, the tall scout saw something that might 
have amused him at another time, for it possessed 
the elements of comedy rather than tragedy. 

Alec in hurling that stick aloft must have suc- 
ceeded in dislodging some animal from its hold 
on the limb. The beast in falling had alighted 
fairly and squarely on the shoulders of the aston- 
ished Scotch boy, and given him a severe case of 
fright. Lil Artha saw that it possessed a long 
ringed tail, and hence he knew instantly that it 
was only a harmless raccoon, and not a fierce 
wildcat, as he had at first feared. 


CHAPTER IV 


SHOWING THE GREENHORNS 

“Whoo! tak’ him off, Lil Artha! It’s a mad 
cat, it is, Pm thinkin’ !” 

The ’coon being presently dislodged, after hav- 
ing only given Alec a few trifling scratches, pro- 
ceeded to retreat in hot haste. The angry Scotch 
lad, snatching up another billet of wood, was 
about to rush after the frightened animal as 
though to vent his fury upon it, when Lil Artha 
barred the way. 

“Don’t do it, Alee !” he called out, holding up a 
restraining hand; “let the poor thing trot along. 
He’s more scared than you were, take it from me.” 

“But he bit me, ye ken; and I don’t let any fear- 
some wild beastie do that with impunity, I tell 
ye !” snapped Alec. 

“Well, who’s really to blame, Alecf’ said Lil 
Artha, promptly. “That’s only a harmless rac- 
coon. He must have his nest in a hollow limb 
of this tree we’re under. Hearing all the talk 
going on below here, can you blame him for peek- 
ing, and trying to pick up a few points about eat- 
46 


SHOWING THE GREENHORNS 


47 


mg, and the like! He was within his rights, and 
you had no business to knock him down with that 
chunk of wood. He happened to fall on your 
shoulders, and commenced scratching and clawing 
when you jabbed at him so with your hands. He 
only scratched you a little, and drew the blood. 
Elmer has the stuff to put on that, and prevent 
any chance of blood poisoning setting in. But 
surely you wouldn’t kill that inoffensive little runt 
because he allowed you to knock him out of the 
tree.” 

Alec hung his head. 

“Aweel, it may be you’re right, Lil Artha,” he 
muttered, being conquered by the arguments ad- 
vanced by the other. “Anyway, it’s too late now 
to chase after him, for the beastie is lang out of 
sight. Perhaps I was o’er hasty to throw. Next 
time I’ll try to hold my hand.” 

“It pays not to be too fast while in the woods,” 
he was assured. “If now that had happened to 
be a bobcat, you’d have been in a nice pickle, let 
me tell you; and he might have scratched out both 
your eyes before the rest of us could lift a hand 
to save you. Better go slow but sure, Alec. And 
try to look at things once in a while from the 
standpoint of the woods animal. You’ll find it 
mighty interesting to put yourself in their place, 
and figure just what you would do.” 

Again Alec scratched that tousled red head of 
his. Plainly he was puzzled to exactly grasp what 


48 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


Lil Artha meant ; but then, as time passed and he 
became more accustomed to this strange camp 
life, now so new to him, the boy would doubtless 
understand many things that in the beginning 
looked very mysterious. 

When, a short time later, Lil Artha began to 
initiate him into the mysteries of tire-making, 
Alec displayed more or less fresh interest. He 
knew he was going to like that sort of thing first- 
rate, he told the other; which acknowledgment 
caused the tall scout to grin with pleasure, since 
it repaid him tenfold for all the trouble he had 
taken thus far. 

The fire was soon burning cheerily. Somehow 
it seemed a great source of joy to everyone, espe- 
cially Elmer, Lil Artha and George. As veteran 
scouts the crackle of a blaze instantly called up 
fond memories of numerous former occasions 
when in the woods, and camping amidst the soli- 
tudes they had met with all sorts of interesting 
and even thrilling adventures, never to be utterly 
forgotten, even when they had grown to manhood, 
and gone forth into the world upon their ap- 
pointed life missions. 

Next in order came the preparations for cook- 
ing the camp supper. Here Lil Artha had fresh 
and glorious opportunities to show the tenderfoot 
squad all sorts of things that it was of prime 
importance they should early manage to acquire, 
if they expected to make good scouts. 


SHOWING THE GREENHORNS 


49 


And when the ham had been nicely browned in 
the skillet; the potatoes and onions thoroughly 
cooked; the coffee allowed to settle, after being- 
brought to a boil; and the rudely-built table set 
with all sorts of good things besides, from cookies, 
jam, home-made pies, pickles, and such articles 
as the crafty George had prevailed upon his dupe, 
Rufus, to include in the bulky stores, it seemed as 
though there was hardly room to allow their 
plates a chance to find crevices for lodgment. 

By this time the sun had set in a blaze of glory 
that called forth loud words of sincere admiration 
for the entire party. Twilight was upon the land 
as they sat down to enjoy that glorious spread; 
and both Rufus and Alec vowed they had never 
in all their lives felt one-half so hungry as right 
then and there. 

That supper would never be forgotten by those 
tenderfoot scouts. Every fellow once new to the 
woods can look back to the first meal under such 
conditions, and remember how wonderfully good 
everything did taste. The food at home never had 
such tempting qualities, and his one great fear 
was that the supply would not be equal to the 
enormous demand. 

After supper came the dish washing. That was 
not quite so fine, especially since Rufus and Alec 
had fairly gorged themselves. But Elmer knew 
that it was good to start out right. 

“Oh! what’s the use bothering with the old 


50 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


dishes tonight !” complained Rufus, spoiled at 
home by a doting mother ; “Pm feeling too fine to 
be disturbed. Please don’t spoil it all by doing 
anything disagreeable, Elmer.” 

His wheedling tone had no effect. The scout- 
master was determined that these two new re- 
cruits must learn that duty always precedes 
pleasure with a scout. After all work has been 
finished is the proper time to “loaf,” and take 
things easy. 

“We have a rule in camp that is as unbending 
as that of the Medes and the Persians, Rufus,” 
Elmer went on to say, positively. “That is, the 
dishes must be cleaned up immediately after sup- 
per, by those who are delegated with the task. I’ll 
be only too glad to show you and Alec how to go 
about it, in case you haven’t had any experience ; 
but the pot of hot water is waiting, and none of 
us can settle down to an evening’s enjoyment 
until things are cleared away. All of us mean to 
take our turns at the job, remember, but we 
thought the new beginners ought to be the ones to 
start first.” 

Rufus looked as though inclined to rebel. Just 
then Alec jumped up, being more ready to give in 
than the boy who had always had his own way. 

“Coom alang, Rufus, and we’ll wrestle with the 
pots and pans!” he called out. “Between the 
baith of us we should be able to manage, I ken. 
And then for a lang evenin’ listenin’ to the stories 


SHOWING THE GREENHORNS 


51 


Lil Artha, here, has promised to spin, that will, 
nae daot, mak’ Robert Louie Stevenson’s wildest 
tales tak’ a back seat.” 

Well, after that Rufus could not hold out. He 
even grinned sheepishly a bit as he got up from 
his comfortable position, and followed the Scotch 
lad and Elmer over to where the dishpan was 
hung on a convenient nail, together with a supply 
of towels, and several dish cloths, all seen to by 
Lil Artha, who knew by long experience how 
necessary such things are in a well conducted 
camp. 

So by slow degrees Elmer and his mates might 
make progress in educating the tenderfoot squad 
along the lines that every well drilled scout has 
to follow. Of course they would meet with many 
discouragements, and sometimes feel that the task 
was beyond their strength, especially in connec- 
tion with Rufus, who had allowed such a multi- 
tude of tares to grow amidst the good seed that 
would have to be rooted out ; but it is astonishing 
how much persistence and patience will accom- 
plish, and in the end surprising results might 
reward the laborers in the vineyard. 

They sat up late that night and the fire contin- 
ued to crackle merrily as fresh fuel was applied 
from time to time. How wonderful it all seemed 
to Rufus and Alec, experiencing their very first 
night in camp. The moon had already set, being 
young, and darkness hung over the scene. 


52 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


Strange sounds, too, welled up out of that gloom 
to thrill the greenhorns as they listened. Again 
and again did one of them interrupt the conversa- 
tion or the story-telling to demand that some 
fellow tell what manner of queer creature could 
he making such and such a noise. 

Now it was some night bird giving a hoarse 
cry ; again a distant loon, doubtless out upon some 
lake, the presence of which they had not even 
suspected, sent forth a fiendish sound like the 
laugh of an evil sprite and which chilled the blood 
in the veins of the tenderfoot scouts ; later on they 
heard tree frogs commence their weird chorus, 
and were relieved to learn the nature of the noisy 
sounds, for they half suspected a circle of raven- 
ous wolves might be closing in around the camp. 

And so it went on, one thing after another. 
Perhaps the most singular effect of all was pro- 
duced by the hooting of a big owl, doubtless 
squatted in some dead treetop within a few hun- 
dred yards of the fire. The two greenhorns really 
believed some man was calling out and making 
fun of them. Rufus, on his part, jumped to the 
conclusion that the poacher, possibly under the 
influence of liquor, was daring them to come out 
and have a fight with him, for that tantalizing 
“whoo ! whoo !” seemed to breathe defiance and 
scorn. Alec, too, showed symptoms of “firing 
up/’ much to the secret amusement of Lil Artha 
and George. 


SHOWING THE GREENHORNS 


53 


They both quieted down after being told what 
sort of a big-eyed bird was responsible for the 
weird noise; though from time to time as the 
hoots continued to be wafted to them on the night 
air, the tenderfoot scouts would move uneasily, 
and exhibit fresh traces of interest bordering on 
rank incredulity, since it was difficult for them to 
really believe any feathered creature could in- 
dulge in such a mocking monologue. 

And later still, after they had crept into their 
warm blankets, and sought to go to sleep, while 
the three veterans after a while managed to find 
forgetfulness in honest slumber, the other pair 
tossed back and forth, changed their hemlock- 
filled pillows into new positions, sighed dismally, 
and put in one of the most trying nights they had 
ever known. 

But then it would not be so bad on the next 
occasion ; and before many nights passed they, 
too, would be “dead to the world a short time after 
hitting the hay,” as Lil Artha expressed it. 
Every fellow has to be broken in before he can 
sleep, wffien camping out for the first time; the 
great wilderness around seems peopled with 
countless unseen, but nevertheless present, crea- 
tures, which his lively imagination pictures as 
seeking to steal a march upon the camp, and 
either to purloin all their possessions or else eat 
them alive. 

Why, even experienced campers usually have 


54 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


a poor first night of it, until they can again grow 
accustomed to the difference between their own 
soft beds within the four walls of home, and this 
canvas covering, or perhaps only the starry 
heavens above for a canopy. 

That long night seemed never to reach an end, 
to Rufus at least; for even after the Scotch lad 
had passed into slumberland the other squirmed 
about uneasily, sat up and looked around him 
many times; and even crept out twice to throw 
additional fuel on the fire, because he hated to see 
it getting so dismally dark around, with all those 
queer sounds welling up in chorus — the said 
chorus being produced in part, if Rufus only 
knew it, which lie didn’t, by katydids, crickets, 
tree-frogs, and such harmless little creatures. 

But even the longest night must come to an end 
at last. Rufus, having finally fallen into a doze, 
found himself aroused by some one talking, and 
opening his eyes discovered to his surprise that it 
was broad daylight, with breakfast cooking near 
by. 


CHAPTER V 


THE SPIRAL OF BLUE SMOKE 

One thing, at least, pleased Rufus when he 
crawled forth and stretched himself, giving a 
yawn at the same time — it promised to be a fine 
day. To a fellow who expected to do considerable 
prowling around in the vicinity of Raccoon Bluff 
this was a matter of material importance; for a 
heavy rain must have put a damper on his cher- 
ished plans. 

By the time the latest up had finished dressing 
the welcome call to breakfast was sounding. Lil 
Artha performed this sacred rite, and in the cus- 
tomary camp way, wishing to initiate the two 
tenderfoot chums in all the mysteries that went 
with the ceremony. Taking the biggest frying- 
pan they had fetched along, he rattled a lively 
tattoo upon it with a heavy cooking spoon. And 
during the course of their stay it may be said in 
passing that never was there a more eagerly antic- 
ipated racket, in the opinion of Rufus and Alec, 
when their camp appetites developed, than that 
same summons to the “festive board,” as Lil 
Artha dubbed the rude makeshift table. 

55 


66 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


While they enjoyed the fruits of the cook’s skill 
in wrestling with the culinary outfit, and made 
the bacon and fried eggs vanish in a most remark- 
ably swift fashion, the boys also laid out their 
plans for the first day. 

Of course Bufus was eager to get busy looking 
up the lines of the survey; and he had already 
bound Alec to the task of being his helper. The 
latter did not object in the least, though after a 
day or two had elapsed, and the fever calmed 
down somewhat with Bufus, the Scotch lad antic- 
ipated having his time more to himself; for he 
was eager to learn a great many scout secrets 
which the accommodating lanky Lil Artha had 
promised to import to the new fellows. 

Elmer, however, had no intention of allowing 
those two greenhorns free swing for a whole day. 
The chances were ten to one they would get lost 
the first thing ; and it would be too bad if a good 
part of their limited stay at Baccoon Bluff was 
taken up in hunting missing comrades. 

“I appoint you, Lil Artha, as supervisor,” he 
went on to say, with a smile; “and your duties 
today will be to stick to Bufus and Alec like a 
porous plaster. Don’t let one of them get out of 
your sight for a minute. You can lend a hand as 
much as you please ; and fetch them back to camp 
at midday, when we’ll have lunch, leaving the big 
meal until the day’s work is all done.” 

Bufus looked as though about to rebel. He 


THE SPIRAL OF BLUE SMOKE 


57 


was so accustomed to liaving Lis own way tliat 
it came Lard with Lim to be ordered to do any- 
tiling. TLen Le suddenly remembered Lis scout 
vow, and tLat Le Lad solemnly promised to bow 
to superior authority. Elmer was the “boss,” and 
Lis word was law while they were aw T ay from 
Lome; so, making a virtue of necessity, Rufus 
shrugged Lis shoulders and grinned. 

“Just as you say, Elmer, 1 ” Le observed, a bit 
ungraciously, “but I never was lost in all my life. ?> 

“That’s nothing to boast of, Rufus,” remarked 
Lil Artha. “It only goes to prove Low many 
splendid opportunities you’ve missed. On my 
part I was just as proud of my ability to look 
after myself as you are; and yet I used to get 
twisted in my bearings a Leap until I got the 
Lang of things. I can remember several times 
when I walked straight away from camp, under 
the belief that I was Leading for it. You see, 
while I could easily tell which was north and east, 
I didn’t know which way the camp lay; because 
my faculty for observation hadn’t yet been devel- 
oped to any great extent. It’ll all come to you 
by degrees, if you really want to learn.” 

“Well, what am I to do this morning, Elmer?” 
asked George. 

“That’s an easy one,” chuckled the leader. “As 
you’re such a stickler for having everything so 
neat about the camp, George, with things handy 
to the reach, I’ll appoint you camp warden for 


58 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


today. You can fuss around all yon please, and 
by night I expect weTl find that Camp Comfort 
well deserves its name.” 

George looked pleased. His good qualities 
often more than counterbalanced his poor ones; 
and being neat is something no scout should ever 
feel ashamed of. 

Elmer did not mention what he meant to do 
himself. In fact, he had not wholly determined 
that point, though he fancied that he might take 
a wide turn around, and see what the country 
about Raccoon Bluff looked like. 

Although Elmer had not said anything about it 
to the others, the fact is he had made a little dis- 
covery that aroused his interest considerably. 
Just before they sat down to breakfast he had 
chanced to step over to a point where the best 
view was to be had, and using a pair of field- 
glasses which had been brought along, took a 
casual survey of the country. 

In one particular spot he believed he -could see 
a faint column of pale blue smoke climbing 
straight skyward from amidst the thick growth. 
Elmer was a pretty good woodsman, and he did 
not have to be told that such smoke always comes 
from well seasoned wood, while black smoke 
springs from greener stuff. 

Some one had a fire over there, that was evi- 
dent, and knew what sort of fuel to select in the 
bargain; which fact made it patent that he was 


THE SPIRAL OF BLUE SMOKE 


59 


educated in the ways of the woods. Elmer’s curi- 
osity was excited. He wondered who their neigh- 
bor could be. Was it some fishing party, perhaps 
camped on the shore of the unseen lake on the 
bosom of which that loon they had heard cry had 
been swimming at the time? 

Of course there might be numerous answers 
to the question Elmer was asking himself. Per- 
haps lumbermen were looking over the property 
which had lately come into the possession of Mr. 
Snodgrass, with an idea of making him a proposi- 
tion for the right to cut off the big timber. Then 
again, charcoal-burners sometimes worked in the 
season ; or it might be game wardens were 
abroad, with the idea of catching detested poach- 
ers at their work. 

Then last of all Elmer thought of Jem Shock, 
the slippery customer whom no warden had thus 
far been able to catch red-handed, breaking the 
game laws; and who, it seemed, had gained an 
unenviable reputation for boldness as well as 
knavery, so that his name, bandied about from lip 
to lip, had gradually become a synonym for every- 
thing that was bad, whether the fellow deserved 
it or not. 

Well, they knew that this same Jem lived some- 
where in the wilderness, since he seldom appeared 
in any town; and what more likely than that his 
camp lay over yonder, where the blue trail of 
smoke lifted toward the sky? 


60 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


Elmer felt an enticing temptation beginning to 
assail him. It has been said before that he had 
found himself attracted toward Jem Shock, sim- 
ply because of a curiosity to know what the real 
man might be like ; for Elmer was loath to believe 
all he heard about any one, knowing how stories 
are magnified in the telling. 

And by the time breakfast was over with, the 
scout leader had decided that he would take a 
little stroll, which might, there was no telling, 
carry him in the direction of the blue column of 
smoke. 

It happened that Rufus was so busy getting 
ready to start out with his surveying instruments 
that he had given no thought to looking around. 
Lil Artha on his part would, of course, take note 
of the general lay of the land ; but with the ridge 
to serve as a guide he believed he could always 
make a bee-line back to camp whenever the neces- 
sity arose. 

All was soon ready, and Alec, laden with the 
heavier material, called out a cheery goodbye to 
the two who were being left behind. 

“I’m glad this day that I’ve got on the braw 
khaki breeks,” he was saying, “for if they w T ere 
woollen ye maun rest assured it would tak all my 
time picking otf the beggars’ lice, as ye call these 
little burrs. We’ll be back the noo and expectin’ 
lunch to be served, George, retnember, lad.” 

“Well, stick by Lil Artha then, if you know 


THE SPIRAL OF BLUE SMOKE 


61 


what’s good for you, Scotchy,” called out the 
keeper of the camp. “And Pm glad Elmer made 
each one of you put a little snack of cheese and 
crackers in his pocket. If you have the misfor- 
tune to get lost that will be the only thing to stand 
between you and starvation.” 

Rufus sniffed in disdain. 

“Talk away, George,” he told the other, “we all 
know that you’re one of these pessimists, and 
always seeing the black side of things. "Who ex- 
pects to get lost? Certainly neither of us. And 
besides, what do we have a guardian angel like 
Lil Artha along with us for? Not because of his 
good looks, that’s sure.” 

“Oh ! come along, and don’t talk so much, 
Rufus!” the said “guardian angel” called out, 
though smiling broadly at being so highly com- 
plimented. 

“Just see Lil Artha feeling of his shoulders, 
will you?” George jeered. “Now you’ve gone and 
spoiled him for any decent sort of work, Rufus ; 
after this he’ll be spending most of his time look- 
ing for his angel wings to sprout. But goodbye, 
and good luck, fellows. Look for you about noon, 
remember.” 

So they went off, seemingly as happy as boys 
could well be; for Rufus was about to test his 
superior knowledge of survey work. Alec saw a 
chance of having many little talks between whiles 
with the tall guide, upon whom he was leaning 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


more and more as an exponent of the jolly times 
to be had in the open; while Lil Artlia, himself, 
was always supremely happy when he could 
shoulder his Marlin gun, and stalk abroad, no 
matter whether he meant to do any hunting or 
not. 

Elmer knew very well that nothing would tempt 
Lil Artha to fire his gun with the intention of 
breaking the law. The only reasons he insisted on 
taking it along were that it might come in handy 
in case they met a wildcat, always a possibility, 
of course; and that he loved to feel its familiar 
touch upon his shoulder, where his khaki coat 
was well worn from contact with it. 

For some little time afterwards Elmer busied 
himself in fixing certain things of his own. George 
had already cleaned up the mess of breakfast 
pans and dishes, so that he could devote himself 
to other matters. He had already sized things 
up, and made a list of certain improvements that 
were calculated to add to the comfort and peace 
of mind of the campers. 

“While we’re only going to be up here at Rac- 
coon Bluff for a matter of seven days or so,” he 
had remarked in the hearing of the tenderfoot 
squad, “that’s no reason we ought to let things 
run along in a slipshod fashion. It’s a pleasure 
to me to have the camp look spic and span to begin 
with, no matter if it does get littered up some- 
what as the days go by.” 


THE SPIRAL OP BLUE SMOKE 


63 


That is just the way with scouts, as a rule. 
No one of them unites all the virtues in his single 
person; hut while owning up to certain faults, at 
the same time he will be found to possess a num- 
ber of splendid qualities that add to the comfort 
and health of his comrades. George could make 
himself one of the most disagreeable chaps going, 
when his argumentative and unbelieving mood 
was upon him; then again, he would suddenly 
blossom out in another phase, and cause all his 
chums to bless him as a real public benefactor. 

Finally Elmer strode forth from the tent. 

“I’m going to take a little turn around, George,” 
he remarked casually, “and see what this part of 
the country looks like.” 

“All right, Elmer,” the busy one told him, “I 
can manage alone, I guess, because Pve got a 
heap to do before I’m satisfied with the way 
things look. No use telling you to not get lost; 
because that’d be next to impossible.” 

“Nevertheless,” the scout-master ^assured him, 
“I mean to keep on the alert, for when you’re in 
the woods constant vigilance is the price of safety. 
I always take observations as I go along; and 
notice many queer-shaped trees, so that I’ll know 
them again when I see them. I also look back 
considerably, too, because it pays to notice how 
things appear from the other side.” 

“It certainly does,” agreed George, very ami- 
ably; “I’ve had that experience myself more than 


64 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


once. Thought I had taken stock of bent-over 
trees and rock formations, yet on trying to fol- 
low the trail back, they all looked vastly differ- 
ent from what they had before. Taught me a les- 
son I’ve never forgotten either. Well, so-long, 
Elmer. I’ll expect you when you turn up. I hope 
though you don’t happen to run foul of that ugly 
poacher chap, Jem Shock. I didn’t much fancy 
the cut of his jib when we met him on the road; 
and I reckon he’d be a bad one to rile up.” 

Elmer only laughed lightly and walked off. 
He had cut a stout cane, and this was the only 
kind of weapon he cared to carry along. It would 
serve him in good stead should he happen to come 
across a rattlesnake, for this was likely to happen 
at any time, since they had been warned by the 
friendly farmer that such venomous reptiles 
abounded along Raccoon Bluff. And in case a 
bobcat should turn up, Elmer fancied he could 
defend himself against attack with that choice 
staff. Besides, it was not often that a cat was 
to be met with in broad daylight, since they prefer 
to do most of their wandering about in search 
of food after nightfall comes. 

He stopped and looked back at the camp. It 
had a very picturesque appearance just at that 
fime, with the fire casting up a spiral of smoke 
toward the clear heavens, George bustling around 
in the capacity of campkeeper; and the whole 
overhung by those magnificent trees. 


THE SPIRAL OF BLUE SMOKE 


65 


Elmer dearly loved this sort of thing. Some- 
thing implanted in his nature, coming down pos- 
sibly from far-back ancestors who used to hunt 
game for a living, caused the boy to possess an 
earnest yearning to spend a season every year 
in the primeval wilderness, close to Nature’s 
heart. It was as near the “call of the wild” as 
the ordinary boy ever gets, since school duties, 
as well as home ties, have dominion over him 
most of the year. 

Elmer prepared to enjoy himself to the full. 
The air was certainly delicious at this time in 
the morning, though growing rapidly warmer as 
the sun climbed higher. All outdoors seemed to 
be rejoicing with him. He could hear the merry 
voices of insects all around ; the croaking of frogs 
in a nearby marshy spot he passed ; and the con- 
stant cawing of crows in the treetops, as they 
prepared to sally forth bent on finding a late 
breakfast, or possibly teaching their young how 
to use their wings in short flights around the home 
nests. 

“This is the life!” said Elmer, exultingly, as 
he walked along with a brisk step, and used his 
eyes to notice a thousand and one things around 
him, most of which would of a certainty never be 
seen at all by an ordinary boy, until his senses 
had been sharpened, brought about through prac- 
tical scout activities. 


CHAPTER VI 


A LITTLE WOODS MINSTREL 

Nothing seemed to escape the trained eyes of 
the scout-master as he walked on through the 
woods, across open glades, and sometimes cross- 
ing ravines where little brooks gurgled along in 
a happy care-free fashion, after the habit of wan- 
dering streamlets in general. 

One of the first things that came to his attention 
was the unusual number of wild bees that 
seemed to be working in the flowers that dotted 
some of these open places. This interested Elmer 
very much ; and as he stopped to watch them go- 
ing in and out of the flowers, busily adding to 
their stores of sweets or pollen, he was rubbing 
his chin reflectively while saying to himself : 

“It looks as if there might be a hive or so 
around this region, away up in some hollow tree. 
Pd like mighty well to spend a morning trying to 
locate it, and if nothing hinders I’ll get one of 
the boys to help me track these little chaps to their 
hiding-place. I’ve done it before, and ought to 
66 


A LITTLE WOODS MINSTREL 


67 


be able to again, if I haven’t forgotten the trick 
that old woodsman showed me. And I should 
think Alec, perhaps Rufus in the bargain, would 
be pleased to see how the thing is done.” 

Then as he went on a little further he discov- 
ered small tracks, plainly outlined in the harden- 
ing mud alongside one of the streams that trickled 
down toward the lower levels. 

“Hello ! good morning, Mr. Mink !” said Elmer, 
as he bent over to examine the tracks which he 
easily guessed were made by the fur-bearing ani- 
mal he had mentioned. “Been out late for a stroll, 
haven’t you? Visiting around, perhaps, to see 
how your relatives are getting on; and dodging 
in and out of all these holes along the bank. Well, 
all I can hope is that no bad trapper covets your 
sleek coat, and lies in wait for you next winter 
with his sharp-edged steel trap.” 

Next he discovered another track quite different 
in design. 

“Why, how do you do, Brother Fox?” Elmer 
chattered, amusing himself by this manner of 
monologue, just as though the animal might be 
within sound of his voice. “You were also abroad 
during the night, I see, and carrying home some 
sort of game in the bargain, for the little foxes in 
the den, judging from the scratches alongside 
your own tracks. Let’s see if I can find out what 
it was you managed to grab.” 

He followed the trail fully fifty yards before 


68 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


making any discovery. Then the observant boy 
triumphantly snatched something up from the 
ground. 

“A fine, fat young partridge, I wager, you 
caught, old lady,” he chuckled, as he twirled the 
feather between forefinger and thumb, and then 
stuck it in the band of his campaign hat. “Well, 
it was a sorry night for the poor bird ; but those 
little foxes just had to have something to devour 
ever so often. Now, I’d like to find out whether 
this was a red fox; one of those dandy blacks 
like we took out of the trap when we were up at 
Uncle Caleb’s woods cabin;* or a gray rascal. I’ll 
see if I can settle that part of it and satisfy my 
curiosity.” 

It did not take long for a boy of such wide 
experience as Elmer to find a clue on which to 
build his theory. Inside of three minutes he came 
to a place where the returning four-footed hunter 
had to pass through close quarters, in pushing- 
under some brush. Elmer knew just where to 
look, and was speedily laughing as he held up 
several hairs he had found caught on a thorn. 

“As red as any fox that ever crept up on a 
sleeping partridge, and snatched her from her 
nest in the thicket !” Elmer declared, also placing 
the evidence away, for he would want to show 
it to the tenderfoot squad, when telling the sim- 
ple story of the wonderful things he had come 

* See “The Hickory Ridge Boy Scouts Storm-Bound.” 


A LITTLE WOODS MINSTREL 


69 


across while just taking a little ramble through 
the woods. 

And so it went on. One thing followed another 
in endless procession. The red-headed wood- 
pecker tapping the rotten top of a tree ; the blue- 
jay hunting worms or seeds amidst the dead 
grass; the chipmunk that switched around to the 
other side of a stump and then with sharp eyes 
watched the two-legged intruder on its haunts 
curiously; the harmless garter-snake that glided 
from under his foot, though giving him a certain 
thrill as he remembered the stories about these 
deadly rattlers — all these, and many other things 
arrested the attention of the boy who long ago 
had become possessed of the magical key that 
unlocks the storehouse of knowledge in Nature’s 
own kingdom. 

And yet Elmer did not forget to always pay 
attention to the course he was taking. He placed 
numerous landmarks down in his memory, so that 
he would know them again later on. Now it might 
be an odd freak in the way of a bent-over tree, 
that had the appearance of a drawn bow, with 
some unseen giant of the woods standing back of 
it, drawing the cord taut; then again a cluster of 
white birches would be impressed on his mind, to 
be readily recognized again in case the necessity 
arose. 

All this time he was heading in a direct line 
toward that region where the blue spiral of smoke 


70 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


had been noticed in the still morning air. Elmer, 
too, fancied, when an hour had passed, that he 
must by now be drawing well along toward the 
origin of the smoke column. 

Possibly he may have questioned whether he 
was exactly wise in thinking of invading the pre- 
cincts of the camp, that might prove to be the 
home of the man who possessed the evil repu- 
tation. 

“But my motives are all right,” Elmer told 
himself, when this arose to annoy him; “and I 
mean no harm to Jem or his people, if so be he 
has any family, which somehow no one ever both- 
ered to tell me, even if they knew. I guess Jem’s 
been something of a mystery to the people up 
here. He seems to have no friends, and it may be 
nobody ever did penetrate to his camp. Well, 
then, Pll be the pioneer in the game. Pm not 
afraid of Jem, for all his black looks. Pd just 
like to get to hioiv him, and find out if he’s as 
tough as they say.” 

And accordingly Elmer, instead of taking warn- 
ing from his fears and turning back, continued 
resolutely along the course he had marked out 
for himself. He would beard the lion in its den. 
and try to convince this same poacher Jem that 
he had nothing to fear from a party of boys out 
on a holiday. Perhaps Elmer may have also had 
some little scheme in mind whereby they could 
do more or less good by utilizing some of those 


A LITTLE WOODS MINSTREL 


71 


superabundant stores which George had cleverly 
advised Rufus to lay in, under the possibility of 
their being storm-bound up in the woods, with a 
great need for much provisions. A little present 
of excellent tea might quite win the heart of Jem’s 
wife, provided he had one; and Elmer had even 
known of a case where the fragrant odor of coffee 
had entirely disarmed a woods bully, who had 
been half inclined to clean out the camp previous 
to his inhaling that delicious perfume. 

Now and then the boy would pause and com- 
mence sniffing the air. He knew that he had been 
walking directly up the wind for quite a while 
now, and hence more than half expected that he 
might catch the whiff of hard-wood smoke, telling 
of the presence of a fire not far distant, and dead 
ahead. 

It was when Elmer was standing still and look- 
ing about him that he suddenly heard a sound that 
sent a peculiar thrill through his whole person. 
There was nothing so strange about the sound in 
itself, only the oddity of hearing it under such 
peculiar conditions. 

“Why, upon my soul, I do believe that’s a violin 
being tuned up !” he whispered, straining his ears 
still more while speaking. “Yes, it is, for I can 
hear the plain chords now. Perhaps some fiddler 
who plays at country barn dances is passing 
through the woods, and has stopped over night at 
Jem’s shack. Why, he seems to have a knack for 


n TENDERFOOT SQUAD 

striking wonderfully fine chords, it seems to me. 
HI just push on and see what it means.” 

This he accordingly did, and as he began to 
catch the sound of music more plainly as he kept 
advancing, Elmer found his curiosity rising to 
fever heat. Now the notes of the weird music 
came floating to him on the soft air, more and 
more distinctly. It seemed to the boy as though 
the violin fairly sobbed with the spirit of the one 
whose fingers trailed the bow across those taut 
strings. 

“It’s wonderful, that’s what!” Elmer was tell- 
ing himself for the tenth time as he kept on walk- 
ing, and straining his hearing more and more. 
“Why, I’ve heard some pretty fine players, but 
never anything like that! Whoever can it be! 
I’d wager a heap that the gift of inherited genius 
is back of that playing. I can see that he isn’t 
an educated violinist at all; but the notes are 
meant to express the language of the soul within. 
Oh, I’m glad now I decided to start out; because 
I wouldn’t have missed this for anything!” 

He knew that he was by now close to the spot, 
for the sounds came very distinctly. As he con- 
tinued to advance, Elmer kept watching, wonder- 
ing what manner of person he was going to see. 
Could some professional violinist have taken a 
notion to spend his summer up here amidst the 
solitudes, communing with Nature, so as to secure 
new inspiration for his work? It would not be 


A LITTLE WOODS MINSTREL 


73 


improbable, though there was that about the 
playing to suggest an utter lack of training. 

Now only a screen of bushes seemed to inter- 
vene. Once he had crept to the further edge of 
these and Elmer would be able to see the one who 
handled that bow so eloquently. 

Three minutes later and he found himself look- 
ing eagerly out of his leafy screen, to receive a 
fresh shock. Instead of a man with the looks of 
a professor, or even a lady performer, he discov- 
ered that the party responsible for those sweet 
chords and sad strains that pierced his heart, was 
only a flaxen-haired boy not over ten years of age ! 

He sat there with his slender legs coiled up on 
a stump, and drew the wonderful notes from his 
fiddle without any apparent effort, just as though 
the music was in him, and had to find an outlet 
somehow. He was barefooted, and dressed shab- 
bily. Yet, despite these evidences of poverty, 
Elmer could note what seemed to be a distin- 
guished air about the lad that fairly stunned him. 
He thought at once of Mark Twain’s “The Prince 
and the Pauper.” Was this a real prince mas- 
querading in dingy apparel? 

He lay there and drank in the wonderful har- 
mony for a full quarter of an hour, hardly daring 
to move lest his actions frighten the little chap, 
and cause that flood of music to cease. All the 
while Elmer was trying to figure out what it could 
mean. Was this boy Jem Shock’s child; and, if so, 


74 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


how in the wide world could the child have come 
into such an amazing musical inheritance? Who 
was his mother, and had she sprung from some 
genius known to the world of melody? 

“No matter what the answer is,” Elmer told 
himself, “that child has genius deeply planted in 
his soul; and it will be a burning shame if he 
never has a chance to be educated along the right 
channel. I'm bound to bring this up before some 
of the good people at home, and see what can be 
done. Oh! if only they could hear him as I am 
doing right now, it would be easy to collect a sum 
of money to start him on the road to becoming 
the most famous of American violinists. I never 
heard such wonderful music in all my life. He 
mustn't get away from me now.” 

Elmer said this last because he saw that the 
boy was apparently about to cease playing. He 
had tucked his violin away in a much-soiled bag 
of once green baize, and was climbing down from 
the stump, as though to depart from the theatre 
he apparently liked above all other places for his 
daily concert. 

So Elmer stepped forth and swiftly approached. 
The boy did not hear his footsteps at first, for 
Elmer knew how to tread softly ; but presently he 
looked around and for a moment the scout leader 
feared he meant to dart away. 


CHAPTEE VII 


MAKING A BARGAIN WITH CONRAD 

“Hold on, please, don’t go away; I’d like to 
talk with you, and tell you how much I’ve enjoyed 
listening to your playing.” 

Upon hearing the stranger say these kind 
words, the hoy apparently reconsidered his in- 
tention of running off. He drew himself up 
proudly, and waited. Elmer saw that while he 
was a very handsome little fellow, there was no 
trace of weakness about his face ; he had just as 
resolute a chin as Jem Shock himself; and his 
blue eyes could evidently flash fire if his spirit 
were aroused. 

So Elmer walked forward and joined the other. 
Standing there barefooted, and with his clothing 
well worn, though neatly patched, the boy pre- 
sented a strange appearance, hugging his cher- 
ished violin in its faded case close under his arm. 
Elmer would never forget the picture he had 
made as he sat there drawing all those remarkable 
sounds from the wooden case; he would have 
labeled such a painting simply “Genius,” and let 
people catch the idea according to their bent. 

75 


70 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


“You play very sweetly, my boy,” he told the 
other. “I have been listening for a long time. 
Where did you learn how to handle the bow ? Who 
taught you to make a violin talk, and tell all the 
things that you have been hearing the birds and 
the little woods folks saying ?” 

“My mother showed me how to hold the bow, 
and the rest I just picked up like, mister,” the 
boy replied. 

Elmer was further astonished. He had ex- 
pected to hear this woods boy speak most un- 
grammatically; but few lads of his age, who had 
gone to school for five years or over, could have 
expressed themselves one-half as well. But then 
the same mother who had shown him how to grasp 
the bow must have taken pains to teach him other 
things that went with the education of a growing 
boy. His observation had done the rest ; for just 
as Elmer himself was accustomed to doing, this 
boy had ever heard a thousand voices in the soli- 
tudes where he dwelt ; and these elements he was 
weaving into music as he dreamily drew his bow 
again and again across the responsive strings. 

“Do you live near here?” next asked Elmer, 
who saw that the boy was curiously looking him 
over, and seemed to be visibly impressed with his 
khaki suit, as well as his leggings and his cam- 
paign hat. 

He noticed the glint of suspicion suddenly shoot 
into the blue eyes. 


MAKING A BARGAIN WITH CONRAD 77 


“What do you want to know that for!” he asked 
sharply. “Are you a warden, or a revenue 
officer V 9 

Elmer laughed in his customary cheery way 
that usually proved so catching, and made him so 
many friends. 

“Well, I should say not, my friend,” he hastened 
to assure the other. “This is the regular uniform 
of the Boy Scouts. Have you ever heard of the 
scouts, and would you like me to tell you some 
interesting things about them?” 

The boy looked him all over again, and when 
he saw what a frank and engaging face Elmer 
had, he seemed to make up his mind that really he 
ought to have no fear from so friendly a boy. 

“Yes, I would, if you didn’t mind telling me,” 
he went on to say. “Once, a year or so ago, 
mother took me to a town to have my teeth looked 
over — I’ve got better clothes than these at the 
cabin, you know — and while we were there I saw 
a boy dressed like you are. He had a drum, and 
was beating it ever so hard, making music that 
nearly killed me, it was so terrible. But I didn’t 
know he was a scout. So I’d like to hear about 
them, if you don’t mind.” 

Accordingly, Elmer sat down on a convenient 
log, it being a part of the very same tree the 
stump of which the boy had utilized as his ros- 
trum, w&en playing his sad airs to an imaginary 
audience. 


78 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


“Come and sit beside me, please,” he went on to 
say, encouragingly ; “and first, before I start 
talking, I ought to introduce myself. My name 
is Elmer Chenowith, and I live in the town of 
Hickory Ridge. Would you mind telling me your 
name, because, you see, it's rather awkward for 
two boys to chat without knowing how to speak to 
each other.” 

“I’m Conrad!” the boy said simply, as he took 
the designated seat, and carefully placed his 
precious violin on the ground beside him. 

“Conrad Shock!” continued Elmer, at which the 
boy shut his teeth hard, and then almost defi- 
antly said: 

“Yes, and Jem Shock is my father, too, if you 
want to know it!” 

“That’s all right, Conrad,” the other told him. 
“I have heard a lot about J em, but I don’t believe 
much of what is told me. Besides, it’s none of 
my business, and I don’t mean to meddle with 
anybody else’s affairs. Now I want to be friends 
with you. I must hear about your gift of playing, 
because you have got it without a question. After 
I’ve told you all about scouts, and what they aim 
to do in the world, I hope you’ll tell me about 
yourself, Conrad.” 

“Perhaps I will, Elmer,” the other replied, 
calmly. 

So once again the story of scout craft was told 
in simple language. The boy hung upon every 


MAKING A BARGAIN WITH CONRAD 79 


word as though he felt the keenest interest in all 
he heard. And never conld there have been a 
more zealous narrator than the leader of the 
Wolf Patrol; for Elmer’s heart was wrapped up 
in his present calling as typified in the khaki, and 
he fairly fascinated his young auditor by relating 
how the scouts took upon themselves so many 
uplifting resolutions ; how they learned new things 
every day by observing, and remembering what 
they saw and heard ; also how the movement was 
widening in its scope continually until even the 
Government at Washington had taken notice of 
its beneficial effect upon the youth of the land, 
and was at last legislating in behalf of the or- 
ganization. 

“And now,” he said in conclusion, “you under- 
stand who and what we are. I have four chums 
along with me, two of them new beginners whom 
we call tenderfeet, because they know so little 
about the great book of Nature, and have so much 
to learn. We came up here, partly to camp out 
and enjoy ourselves as scouts always do when 
they get the chance. Then it happens that the 
father of one of the boys has bought a big tract 
of land around Raccoon Bluff, and his son wanted 
to survey it over, not being satisfied with the 
original work. We chanced to see your father 
while we were on the road, and told him this, but 
I’m afraid he didn’t wholly believe us; but, Con- 
rad, I give you my word of honor as a scout that 


80 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


we haven’t the least idea of spying on him, or 
doing him any harm. Do you believe me!” 

The boy looked him in the eye, and doubtless 
soul spoke to soul in that exchange of looks, for 
he presently said, slowly but positively : 

“Yes, you could never tell a lie if you wanted 
to, Elmer. And Fm going to tell you that my 
father has been acting queer ever since he met you 
boys on the road. I don’t know what ails him, but 
I heard him saying a name over and over again, 
and looking ever so black.” 

“What was the name ; can you tell me, Conrad V ' 9 

“It was a funny one — Snodgrass,” the boy re- 
plied, and Elmer shivered when he heard him say 
this, for it came to him like a flash that possibly 
Jem Shock might have some reason to think of 
that name with anything but pleasant memories. 

“That is the name of the new boy whose father 
owns this property up here,” he admitted; “but 
he came from some other section of the country, 
and has only been in our town a few months. Tell 
me about your mother, for you say she showed 
you how to hold the bow. Did she used to play 
the violin herself long ago!” 

“Oh! no, it was her father, the celebrated 
player, Ovid Anderson. He is long since dead, 
you know. And this was his violin, too, with 
which he used to charm so many thousands of 
people. My mother has often told me how they 
would take him on their shoulders and march up 


MAKING A BARGAIN WITH CONRAD 81 


the street shouting that he was the greatest player 
in all the wide world. And some day I mean to 
be his equal; I feel it in here,” and as the boy 
said this most solemnly, he placed a hand on his 
bosom, where his heart beat most tumultuously, 
and called upon him for deeds worthy of the name 
his ancestor had made famous. 

For Elmer had himself heard that name of 
Ovid Anderson. He remembered that the player, 
long since dead, had been a Swedish violinist of 
international reputation. How it came that his 
daughter should ever mate with a man like Jem 
Shock, and be lost to the world in this wilderness, 
was a puzzle too much for Elmer to understand. 

But he hoped that all in good time he might find 
the explanation; for now that he had made the 
acquaintance of Conrad he was more determined 
than ever to meet that mother, even if in doing so 
he had to run the gauntlet of Jem Shock's anger. 

But Conrad was showing evidences now of a 
desire to depart. Elmer would have liked to ask 
to accompany him to his cabin home, but he hesi- 
tated. Still he meant to pave the way to a future 
meeting, and then it might be time to ask to meet 
the boy's mother. 

“Our camp is up on the bluff, where the road 
runs. You can see the smoke of our fire, and per- 
haps the tent under the trees, if you look that 
way. And we'd be glad to have you and your 
mother, yes, and Jem Shock, too, visit us any 


82 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


time, Conrad, if yon felt inclined that way. Do 
yon often come here to play the things that yon 
feel in your soul!” 

“Every morning when it isn’t raining, and then 
the day is very long to me, for I believe I would 
die if it wasn’t for the music,” the hoy hurriedly 
replied. “But I want to thank you for saying 
what you did about my father. I know people 
all say he is a terribly bad man, that he gets 
drunk, and heats us ; but it’s a whole pack of lies, 
that’s what it is. He never drinks a drop. He 
seems to hold a grudge against the whole world 
for something that happened a while ago, but he 
is good to my mother, and he loves me, he says, 
like the apple of his eye.” 

“I’m mighty glad to hear that, Conrad, sure I 
am!” exclaimed Elmer. “Lots of times people 
are given bad names when they don’t deserve 
them one whit. I made up my mind that I wanted 
to know your father, and some day I mean to 
drop in at your cabin and introduce myself. Yes, 
and tomorrow I’ll be coming over here again 
as sure as anything, to listen to you play some 
more. Some day you will get your chance to take 
lessons from some big professor, who will fit you 
for taking the place your famous grandfather 
filled. And perhaps I may be able to start the 
ball rolling; you wait and see.” 

Conrad turned white with the wild hope that 
surged through his ambitious young heart. He 


MAKING A BARGAIN WITH CONRAD 83 


wrung Elmer’s hand eagerly as he said goodbye. 
The scout leader watched him going on through 
the aisles of the forest, and noticed that his 
course took him directly toward the place where 
the smoke came from. 

Fully satisfied with the adventure of the morn- 
ing, and filled with a growing ambition to be the 
one to interest music-loving friends in the won- 
derful genius of the great Ovid Anderson’s grand- 
son, Elmer turned in his tracks, and commenced 
to head for the camp. 

“ I never dreamed of such a thing happening 
to me, when I consented to come up here and help 
Rufus make his new survey,” he was telling him- 
self, as he walked on, never forgetting to note 
his surroundings, as a true woodsman always 
must, no matter what his mind may be occupied 
with. “And wouldn’t it be a great thing, though, 
if we did manage to get that boy’s mother to bring 
him down to town, so the folks who love music 
could only hear him play. Why, they’d go crazy 
over him, I’m sure, and the rest would be as easy 
as falling off a log.” 

Somehow Elmer failed to pay as much atten- 
tion to animated nature around him on his return 
trip as he had when going out ; but then that was 
not to be wondered at. He had really run across 
a most remarkable thing; and it crowded most 
other matters out of his mind. 

When he reached camp, he found George still 


84 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


“up to his eyes” in work, and enjoying every 
minute of the morning. The fixing up of camp 
was such a pleasure to him that for the time 
being he seemed transformed into a real sociable 
fellow, quite different from his usual complaining 
self. 

Elmer told him of his adventure, and George 
was mildly interested. He did not happen to be 
much of a lover of music himself, and perhaps 
thought Elmer might be overestimating the abil- 
ity of a boy player. 

“Oh! there are plenty such cropping up from 
time to time, I reckon,” he remarked, scornfully; 
“but they seldom amount to a row of beans: You 
thought this little chap was some punkins just 
because you happened to hear him amidst pecu- 
liar surroundings. Now, the chances are when 
you listen to him in a concert hall you’ll be bit- 
terly disappointed in his genius, as you like to 
call it.” 

“You’re jumping at conclusions too fast, as 
usual, George,” the scout leader told the objector. 
“In the first place, Conrad will never be heard 
on the concert stage while he is as green as he is 
along the lines of musical culture. He will show 
what is in him to genuine critics, and then if they 
prove as wild over him as I believe they are 
bound to be, he’ll be put under the charge of the 
best teacher in New York City, to begin along 
the proper lines.” 


MAKING A BARGAIN WITH CONRAD 85 


As George was so busily employed, and Elmer 
bad nothing else to do, he started getting luneli 
ready later on. There was an abundance of ma- 
terial to choose from, and it was really a pleasure 
to make the selection. So presently savory odors 
began to arise in the vicinity, that, when wafted 
to the olfactories of the three boys coming wearily 
back over their morning trail would be sure to 
hasten their footsteps. 

It was easy to see that Rufus had made more 
or less progress along the lines of carrying out 
his plans for checking up the previous survey. 

“Of course it’s a whole lot too soon,” he told 
Elmer, when he came into camp and threw him- 
self down to rest, “to say that the job was pretty 
much of a bungle; but I’m beginning to believe 
that same. And before two suns have set I’ll have 
the figures to prove it, too.” 

“What object do you suppose those civil engi- 
neers could have had in rushing it all through, 
and doing a rotten job in the bargain!” demanded 
George. “Could it be possible there was some 
crooked work back of the survey, and that they 
took a money bribe to falsify the figures! In 
other words, has your respected dad been stung 
when buying some square miles of ground up here 
along Raccoon Bluff!” 

“Oh ! I’m hardly prepared to go as far as that,” 
said Rufus, hastily. “I’d be more inclined to be- 
lieve that the men who came up here just slouched 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


at their work and failed to do what they should. 
They made a slash three-quarters of the way 
back in one place, we found, and then probably 
guessed the rest. It’s going to turn out a bad 
piece of work, and they’ll hear from my dad, you 
can wager. The Snodgrass pluck and vim won’t 
stand for such monkey shines one minute, as any 
person who knows my father can tell you.” 

Elmer suddenly remembered how the lad with 
the flaxen hair had said that his father, Jem 
Shock, seemed to cherish a singular antipathy 
toward some one by the name of Snodgrass ; and 
that ever since meeting them on the road, he had 
kept repeating it to himself, and frowning as 
though furious. He wondered again whether that 
rich father of Rufus could at some time in the 
past have wronged the same Jem in a real estate 
deal. It would be very unfortunate if such proved 
to be the case ; and might spoil some of the plans 
he, Elmer, had been building up, connected with 
the wonderful boy musician. 

Later on, while they were discussing the lunch, 
he started in and told Lil Artha, Rufus and Alec 
what he had run across. All of them were greatly 
interested; but the scout-master, for reasons of 
his own, failed to mention that the man who was 
called a “poacher,” and who had somehow gained 
the name of a bad man, seemed to hold hard feel- 
ings against a Snodgrass. 


MAKING A BARGAIN WITH CONRAD 87 


Rufus was loud in his desire to help the “cause” 
along. 

“If ever you can coax these woods people to let 
the boy come to town, Elmer,” he went on to say 
loftily, though also with considerable feeling, 
“Pll promise to interest my folks in him. And 
my father thinks a lot of anybody *who has musi- 
cal talent. I know he took a heap of pleasure in 
helping to send one young lady to Europe to com- 
plete her voice culture; she’s now singing in 
opera, and thinks she owes considerable of her 
dazzling success to what he did for her. She’s 
often been at our house when we lived nearer 
New York.” 

“That sounds good to me, Rufus,” Elmer told 
him ; “and if the opening comes I may call on you 
to redeem your promise.” 

At the same time, Elmer wondered whether it 
might not be the irony of fate if the same man 
who had helped “down” the father, were to stretch 
out a helping hand to the son. He also figured 
that Jem Shock would indignantly refuse to 
accept any aid from that source. But then the 
whole thing was wrapped in mystery; and Elmer, 
like a wise boy, decided that it would be foolish 
to try to figure things out until he had a better 
grip on the conditions. 

After lunch, the surveying party, considerably 
refreshed by their meal, and the hour of loafing 
about the camp, went off again to take up the 


88 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


work where they had dropped it. George, too, 
had found some other things which he might as 
well do while his hand was in; and so Elmer had 
to cast around him for some means of passing 
the long afternoon away. 


CHAPTER VIII 


A PERIL THAT LAY IN. WAIT 

It was an hour and more after the surveying 
party had trooped forth, bearing their parapher- 
nalia for a good afternoon’s work, when Elmer 
happened to remember something. He was him- 
self getting ready to take another tramp, though 
in a different direction than his morning stroll 
took him. 

“Seems to me, George,” he remarked, casually, 
“I’ve heard you say you liked honey pretty well?” 

George stopped fretting over what he was 
doing, and licked his lips at the mere mention of 
the word “honey.” 

“Finest stuff that ever was made ; that is, when 
you get the real article, and none of that sugar- 
water imitation some bee-keepers put on the 
market nowadays, which tastes as insipid as mu- 
cilage. Yum ! yum ! makes my mouth water when 
I think of all the good times I used to have when 
we kept bees. But father had the misfortune to 
upset a hive, and got so badly stung that he 
bundled the lot off at a bargain price to an old 
89 


90 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


farmer. But what makes you speak of it now, 
Elmer? Just to tantalize me, because that was one 
of the things I had Rufus put on his list and he 
forgot to get, worse luck.” 

“Oh! I only wanted to say that perhaps we 
may find a chance while we’re up here to lay in a 
store of luscious honey, if we have half-way good 
luck, George.” 

“Does that farmer keep bees, and do you mean 
some of us can take a run, back to his place to 
buy a bucket of comb?” asked George, eagerly. 

“Better than that,” chuckled Elmer. “I’ve no- 
ticed a great many wild bees working in the flow- 
ers, and I think I can track them to their woods 
hive. Once we find where they hold out, it won’t 
be hard to chop the tree down, and take our fill 
of the newest stores.” 

“A splendid idea, Elmer, I give you my word 
if it isn’t!” cried the other, looking greatly 
pleased. “It certainly takes you to think up fine 
things. And when you start to follow the honey- 
makers home, please let me go along. I’ve al- 
ways wanted to see how that dodge is worked.” 

“We’ll all be on deck,” the scout-master assured 
him; “for above everything else I want the ten- 
derfoot squad to learn a practical lesson on how 
easy it is for an experienced woodsman to find 
his bread and butter and sweets by using his 
brains instead of hard cash. But we’ll lay our 
plans tonight while we sit around the fire.” 


A PERIL THAT LAY IN WAIT 


91 


“Off for another tramp now, are you, Elmer?” 
George continued, as he saw the other pick up 
his handy stick again. 

“Well, yes; I don’t like to waste such a glori- 
ous day ; and there’s really nothing for me to do 
around camp, since you’ve taken the run of things 
in your hands.” 

“Going off to see that wonderful child fiddler 
again, I suppose, Elmer?” 

“You guessed wrong that time, George, because 
I’ve laid out to follow after our civil engineering 
party, and see how Eufus is getting on with his 
work. He certainly is in love with it; and his 
father will be unwise if he doesn’t encourage the 
boy in every way possible. I tell you, a host of 
fellows have made failures of their lives because 
their parents insisted on their taking up some 
profession they hated.” 

“Just so, Elmer,” chirped George, “a case of 
round pegs in square holes, so to speak. And 
when I get to the point of choosing what I want 
to be as a man, I hope my folks won’t force me 
to go contrary to my liking.” 

Knowing George’s stubborn qualities, Elmer 
could easily guess that the Robbins tribe would 
have a pretty hard task of it bending him to their 
will. However, he did not say this, not wishing 
to either offend George or arouse his argumen- 
tative powers, but started forth on his tramp. 

“ ’Course you’ll just keep an eye on their trail, 


92 TENDERFOOT SQUAD 

won’t you, Elmer?” the camp-guardian called out 
after him. 

“It would be silly to try any other way, George,” 
he was told. 

So Elmer went on. The tracks left by the three 
surveyors could hardly have been overlooked, 
even by the veriest greenhorn at trailing, for they 
had none of them made the least attempt to hide 
their footprints. So Elmer had an easy task of it, 
and indeed could employ his extra time in ob- 
serving many things around him. 

He saw the mother rabbit start out of the bunch 
of grass where doubtless her offspring lay hidden, 
and with halting steps act as though badly in- 
jured. Elmer laughed, and clapped his hands as 
though in keen appreciation for her cleverness. 

“The same old trick birds and small animals 
always play when they want to lure a trespasser 
away from their nest,” he told himself; “by en- 
dangering themselves in the desire to save their 
young. She coaxes me to rush after her, so as 
to wean me away from her brood. If I started 
she’d go off a little farther, and then stop once 
more to coax me on again. I’ve seen a hen par- 
tridge do the same thing, fluttering along the 
ground as if with a broken wing. Now just for 
fun let’s see if I’m not right.” 

He had carefully noted the exact spot where 
the mother rabbit first appeared, and stepping 
over that way parted the tall grass. Instantly 


A PERIL THAT LAY IN WAIT 


93 


there was a hurried scurrying, as a number of 
small but nimble half-grown rabbits darted this 
way and that, as if greatly frightened. 

“Don’t kill yourselves trying to escape, little 
bunnies,” said Elmer, greatly amused; “because 
I wouldn’t harm a single hair of your pretty bod- 
ies. But I tell you the thousand-and-one lessons 
that a fellow can learn from Nature’s big book 
ought to be enough to make every boy want to be=- 
come a scout, and take up the study of outdoor life. 
There’s something fresh and new every day one 
lives.” 

By then the devoted mother rabbit had van- 
ished, doubtless tilled with consternation over the 
dispersal of her brood, which she would have to 
call together in some fashion of her own. So 
Elmer walked on, observing many other interest- 
ing things as he proceeded, for his eyes were ever 
on the alert when he went into the woods and 
cruised on the waters. 

He guessed that he must be gradually drawing 
up on his three chums, for occasionally he caught 
the sound of a halloo, as though there might be 
an exchange of signals between Rufus and his 
stakeman, who w T ent on ahead to assist him. Lil 
Artha probably prowled along near by, seeing 
things for himself, and with not a great deal of 
interest in the prosaic operations of the sur- 
veyors. 

Suddenly Elmer heard loud excited voices. He 


94 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


believed he caught the voice of Lil Artha saying, 
“Steady, Rufus, don’t move on your life — steady, 
boy !” 

Then came a loud report. Elmer knew that it 
was the discharge of the lanky scout’s gun. He 
was already plunging forward as fast as he could 
go when this sound came to his startled ears. 
The others were close by, for he could now hear 
their excited voices. 

A minute later, and Elmer, still on the full run, 
burst through a thicket, and discovered the three 
boys. Lil Artha had his gun half raised to his 
shoulder, as if doubtful whether the newcomer 
would prove to be a friend or an enemy ; and with 
true scout preparedness not meaning to be taken 
off his guard. But on sighting Elmer, of course 
he lowered his weapon. 

Rufus was standing there, looking as “white 
as a ghost,” and trembling as if he had the ague. 
Alec grasped his small ax, and seemed quite 
ready to use the same. Something twisted and 
squirmed upon the ground, and as Elmer looked, 
his horrified gaze made out an enormous rattle- 
snake that seemed to have part of its head shot 
away. The chilling sound of its rattles was what 
Elmer had thought to be the “chill” of a buzzing 
locust upon some neighboring tree. 

In another moment Elmer was alongside Rufus. 

“Don’t tell me the thing struck you, Rufus?” 
he ejaculated, himself pale with apprehension. 


A PERIL THAT LAY IN WAIT 


95 


“It's all right, Elmer,” said Lil Artha, sooth- 
ingly. “Nobody hurt the least mite, I give you 
my word. But if Rufus hadn’t had the good sense 
to stand still when I called out, I really believe 
the critter would have struck at him. And it was 
close enough to make a hit, too.” 

“I don’t deserve any credit, fellows, indeed I 
don’t!” said Rufus, truthfully. “I was so scared 
that I seemed frozen stiff. Why, I couldn’t have 
moved hand or foot for all the money in the world. 
Guess that’s what they mean when they say a 
rattler charms people.” 

“It may be so,” Lil Artha went on to say, “but 
I’ve known one to get birds to flutter within 
reach, just as if there was something magical in 
the whirr of that buzz rattle at the end of its tail. 
After all, I guess it was lucky that I did conclude 
to fetch my gun along this afternoon. The boys 
were laughing at me in the morning for lugging 
it when I didn’t mean to fire a shot at any game. 
But say, a measly rattler hasn’t any close season; 
he’s a fit object for business, summer or fall.” 

“You made a cracking fine shot, Lil Artha,” 
commented Elmer, after stepping closer to ob- 
serve the result of the other’s quick aim. 

“Oh! middling, middling, partner,” chuckled 
the tall scout, modestly; “I oughtn’t to be proud 
of it; but then I own up I was some rattled for 
fear Rufus would move, and make the snake shoot 
forward with that poised flat head of his. But 


96 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


I stopped his fun all right, which ought to he 
enough for me.” 

“But how d’ye suppose I missed the fearsome 
de-il?” asked Alec, wonderingly. 

“Oh ! I happened to step aside while getting my 
bearings for that last sight,” explained the trem- 
bling Rufus, “and must have drawn too near 
where the viper was coiled up for defense. First 
thing I knew was hearing what I took to be the 
whirr of a locust. Then I looked down and saw 
it! After that I seemed to turn to ice. I heard 
Lil Artha coming, and afterwards he said some- 
thing. When he fired I nearly fell over, thinking 
I had been shot. Oh ! I’ll never forget my sensa- 
tions; and after this I’m going to keep on the 
lookout all the time for snakes.” 

“It pays to be on the watch,” assented Elmer. 
“The fellow who keeps his eyes about him in 
the woods is doubly armed. We must drag it back 
with us, and show George. He said he didn’t be- 
lieve there was any truth in that farmer’s story 
about rattlesnakes up here. We’ll have to show 
him.” 

“But, Elmer, supposing it had given me a crack, 
would I have had to die? Is there any remedy 
for a rattlesnake’s poison?” asked Rufus. 

“Oh! we’d have pulled you through all right, 
depend on it, Rufus,” said Lil Artha, taking it 
upon himself to answer the question. “I’d have 
sucked the wound in the first place, making sure 


A PERIL THAT LAY IN WAIT 


97 


that I had no scratch or abrasion about my mouth 
so that I couldn’t be infected by the poison that 
I ejected. Then Elmer here, who is a pretty good 
surgeon when it comes right down to brass tacks, 
would have cut into the wound, and afterwards, 
when it had bled freely, he’d apply some stuff lie 
always carries with him to neutralize the poison. 
Some people give whiskey, and perhaps it does 
help ; but science and medicine have found a bet- 
ter remedy. ,, 

“Then why are there so many fatal cases of 
snake bites?” asked Rufus, determined to find out 
all he could on the subject. 

“Well, most of them are neglected too long,” 
Elmer told him. “The person who has been struck 
may be alone at the time ; or if he has companions, 
they become panic-stricken, and only think of 
hurrying the poor chap to the nearest doctor as 
fast as they can. That’s nearly always the worst 
thing they could do, for in the time it takes, the 
deadly poison has had a chance to circulate 
through the blood, and all the doctors going 
couldn’t save the patient.” 

“That’s where first aid to the injured comes in 
with the scouts,” said Lil Artha, proudly. “All 
boys who wear the khaki are instructed how to 
act in order to save human life by prompt meas- 
ures, whether it is in case of near-drowning, 
snake bite, injury by cutting an artery with an 
ax, swallowing some poisonous toadstool in place 


98 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


of delicious mushrooms, and a dozen other things 
too numerous to mention. You’ll learn all about 
it in good time, Rufus.” 

“I mean to, Lil Artha, depend on it,” the other 
assured him earnestly. “I give you my solemn 
word here and now that I’ll begin right away. I 
never want to be taken unawares again, so that 
I feel as helpless as a kitten. I’m going to be 
armed and equipped with the book of knowledge. 
I can see that it pays compound interest for all 
your time and trouble.” 

“Now I’m delighted to hear you say that, 
Rufus,” Lil Artha told him; “and I promise to 
instruct you at the first opportunity; Alec, too, 
if he is so minded.” 

“I am verra curious aboot it, and ye can count 
on me being a listener whenever ye begin the 
lessons. Aye ! it would hae been peetiful if Rufus 
had been struck. I’d hae sucked his wound with 
ye, Lil Artha, or done anything else ye asked.” 

Rufus laid a hand on the Scotch boy’s shoulder 
fondly. 

“I’m sure you would, Sandy,” he went on to 
say, for sometimes he used that name in speaking 
to his comrade, though always with affection. 
“But after that fright I guess I’m done working 
for today. Let’s go back to camp.” 

No one raised any objections, so they prepared 
to return. Lil Artha managed to fasten a strong 
cord to the tail of the rattlesnake, which Alec 


A PERIL THAT LAY IN WAIT 


99 


said lie would drag after him. The long-legged 
scout had already shown the two tenderfeet the 
cruel looking curved fangs in the partly shattered 
head, as well as the sickly, green-hued poison that 
could be pressed from the sack by using a stick 
on a certain part of the said head. They had been 
greatly impressed, and likewise shocked to realize 
what a narrow escape both of them had had from 
near-death. 

All the way back the walk was of the hidden 
perils that lie in wait for unsuspecting passersby 
in the woods. This ranged from wildcats to rat- 
tlesnakes and adders and scorpions. Lil Artha 
seemed to be a “walking encyclopedia” of knowl- 
edge along these lines; part of this he had picked 
up through personal experience, and the rest came 
through extensive reading, or hearing others tell 
about it. A scout may find scores of ways for 
learning useful things, if only he cares to bother 
about doing it. 

Later on they approached the camp. 

George, who had managed to get through with 
his numerous odd jobs and was resting, seemed 
surprised to have them come back so soon. 

“Huh! guess you got tired of the job quicker’n 
you expected, Kufus !” he called out lazily from 
his seat on the soft moss under a tree. “All work 
and no play makes Jack a dull boy, they say. But 
what in the dickens js that you’re dragging along 
after you, Alec? Great Scott! a rattler!” 


100 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


George scrambled to his feet, filled with excite- 
ment. His eyes stared at the four-foot reptile, 
which still showed signs of life ; and Lil Artha had 
assured Alec its tail would continue to jerk until 
sundown, even though its head be cut clean off. 

“I hope it didn’t strike any of you fellows ?” 
George went on to add with a vein of fright in 
his voice. 

The story was quickly told, and the convinced 
George had to measure the reptile with his tape 
line, finding it only an inch or two short of four 
feet. 

“As big a rattler as I ever saw,” Elmer told 
them. “They have them five feet long down in 
Florida, I understand, those diamond-back fel- 
lows ; but as I haven’t been there I can’t say any- 
thing about it. For a Northern snake this one is 
certainly a whopper.” 

“Lil Artha has promised to get the rattle for 
me,” remarked Alec. “Rufus had the first choice, 
but man, he said he’d never sleep easy nichts if 
he had it hangin’ on the wall of his room at home, 
thinking about his narrow escape. But it’s a verra 
curious thing to me, and I don’t care a bawbee 
about the sound. It wasn’t my ox that was gored, 
ye ken.” 

George was acting now in something of a mys- 
terious manner. Elmer noticed this and was look- 
ing at the camp-keeper out of the tail of his eye, 
as though trying to guess what was in the wind. 


A PERIL THAT LAY IN WAIT 


101 


He felt certain that George had a secret of some 
kind or other, which he was holding back, just for 
the satisfaction it gave him. 

Lil Artha was an observing chap, as we happen 
to know; and before long he too noticed the same 
thing. This, however, was after he had seen 
Elmer observing George closely, with a line across 
his forehead that told of a puzzled mind. 

The tall scout was not the one to bother him- 
self about trying to solve a thing when there was 
a short cut to the answer. He believed that the 
best way to get at the meat in a cocoanut was to 
smash the shell. 

“Here, what’s brewing with you, George!” he 
suddenly demanded, facing the other. 

George grinned, and then hastened to say : 

“What makes you ask that, Lil Artha!” 

“Because I know right well you’ve got some- 
thing of a surprise up your sleeve, and you’re 
aching to spring it on us. What have you been 
doing since we left camp! Now don’t you 
squirm, and try to keep us in the dark. Own up, 
George, and tell us.” 

So George, seeing there was no escape, ap- 
parently, determined to let the “cat out of the 
bag.” 


CHAPTER IX 


THE STRANGE MESSAGE JEM LEFT 

“Well, we’ve liad a visitor in camp since you 
fellows all went away!” George confessed. 

Of course every one was interested. Lil 
Artlia seemed to immediately jump to the con- 
clusion that the guest must have been a four- 
footed one. 

“Bet you now, it was a measly wildcat,” he has- 
tened to exclaim. “IPs too bad a fellow with a 
gun can’t be in two places at the same time. I was 
needed out with the tenderfoot squad ; and seems 
like I could have been made useful here at home. 
Did the varmint get away with any of our grub, 
George?” 

The camp defender grinned as though amused. 

“Go a bit slow, Lil Artha, can’t you?” he com- 
plained, petulantly. “Don’t rush as if you knew it 
all. Nobody said the visitor was going on four 
feet, did they? Why, it happened to be a biped, 
a man !” 

“Then it was Jem Shock!” ventured Elmer, 
quickly, as though he had half guessed the answer 
before then. 


102 


THE STRANGE MESSAGE JEM LEFT 103 


“Just who it was,” agreed George, nodding his 
head in the affirmative, and looking very im- 
portant. 

“What did he want?” demanded Lil Artha. 

“Hold your horses!” continued Elmer; “don’t 
keep jumping at conclusions so fast. In the first 
place, remember that we invited Jem to drop in 
on us any time he was near our camp. The invita- 
tion didn’t seem to give him much joy, but later 
on he may have concluded to make a call. Now 
tell us what he said, and how he looked, George.” 

“Oh ! he carried that gun of his just as we saw 
him before,” the other explained. “And he cer- 
tainly looked pretty savage, in the bargain.” 

“Savage?” echoed Rufus, “why should he act 
that way ? Possibly because my father owns about 
all this property up here. Perhaps Jem believes 
he may be dispossessed of his cabin. I’ve heard 
that squatters always do get to thinking they own 
the land they build on, as if possession gave them 
a quit claim deed.” 

“Well,” continued George, steadily, and keeping 
his eye fixed on Rufus, “to tell the honest truth, 
he seemed most of all interested about you, 
Rufus.” 

“Oh! is that so?” sneered the other; “well, that’s 
just about in line with what I was telling you. He 
knows the name of Snodgrass, apparently.” 

“I guessed he did from the way he acted after 


104 TENDERFOOT SQUAD 

Pd told him about your father,” George went on 
to say. 

“Now, what could you have to say about my 
dad?” snapped the touchy Rufus. 

“Well, Jem asked me first of all if one of the 
boys in camp was a Snodgrass, and of course I 
told him yes,” George explained. “Then he asked 
me if I knew what your father’s first name was. 
I told him I had heard it, but just then, somehow, 
it seemed to have slipped my memory. At that 
he up and asked me if it was Hiram.” 

Rufus gave a little cry at hearing this. 

“It might be this man knew my father once on 
a time, or they may have had some business deal 
together; though that’s hardly likely, because Jem 
Shock, poacher and farm laborer, would hardly be 
the one my father would be friendly with.” 

“I don’t know anything about that,” said George, 
swiftly; “but when I told him I remembered, on 
his mentioning it, that Hiram was your father’s 
name, he gritted those big white teeth of his like 
everything, and his eyes certainly looked wicked 
enough to give a fellow a shiver.” 

“But didn’t he say anything to explain why he 
had come to the camp?” asked Lil Artha, deeply 
interested in the story. 

“He asked no favor, neither would he sit down 
and have a cup of coffee when I offered to make 
him one,” George went on; “but he asked me to 
give you a message which he wanted you to carry 


THE STRANGE MESSAGE JEM LEFT 105 


to your father when you went home. He said: 
“Tell that Snodgrass boy to say to his father that 
Jem Shock never will forgive the rank treachery 
that handed him over to a gang of sharpers in the 
land speculating business. And tell Hiram Snod- 
grass, too/ he went on, ‘that he ought to thank his 
stars his son wasn’t treated by Jem Shock as he 
deserved. Only for the prayers of a good woman 
in his cabin, and the influence of a sweet child, Jem 
Shock’d be tempted to do something wicked to 
wipe out the debt he owed your father.’ ” 

Rufus went white on hearing this. Then the 
color surged back to his cheeks and his eyes 
sparkled like twin fires. 

“It’s all wrong, I’m sure it must be !” he cried, 
angrily. “I know my father better than most 
people do, and I’m as certain as I breathe that he 
wouldn’t deliberately betray anybody who trusted 
in his word. There must be some terrible mistake 
about it, don’t you see, fellows ? I’ll bring you face 
to face with my dad when I’m telling him about 
this, and you’ll hear for yourselves what he says. 
But nothing can shake my confidence in his in- 
tegrity ; I’ve seen it tested too many times to doubt 
him now, just because this poacher fellow dares 
accuse him of wrong doing.” 

It sounded very fine, this defense on the part 
of a loyal son, and Elmer could only admire Rufus 
for showing himself so faithful. At the same time, 
he knew real-estate dealers often have a peculiar 


106 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


code of morals, and frequently do things that 
others may not exactly approve of, salving their 
own consciences in some way. Elmer was a little 
afraid that Hiram Snodgrass might have been 
tempted to turn a client over to some combination 
of operators, some of whom were not just as scru- 
pulous as an honest man would like to have them 
in his dealings. 

“Was that all he said, George?” asked Lil Artha, 
out of pity for Rufus, who appeared to be suffer- 
ing acutely from mental pain. 

“Yes, and after delivering the message, he 
whirled around and walked away with the grand 
air of a lord of the realm,” George explained. 
“Somehow, poacher that he may be, because he 
believes like a good many persons that wild game 
isn’t the property of the State, there’s something 
about Jem Shock that tells me he isn’t a common 
dickey. He hates all human kind because his na- 
ture has been soured by some wrong he’s endured, 
that’s all.” 

“Well, I’m going to find out what it all means, 
and as soon as I get the chance,” Rufus asserted, 
between his set teeth. “If it was a mistake, it shall 
be righted. I tell you my father is too big a man 
to play mean toward anybody. But while we’re 
up here nothing can be done. I wish I had a 
chance to ask this fellow what it’s all about, so I 
could get the hang of things.” 

“H’m! if I were you, Rufus,” suggested wise 


THE STRANGE MESSAGE JEM LEFT 107 


George, “Pd go slow about showing myself to Jem 
Shock. He hates the sound of your name, and if 
you gave him half an excuse, why he might forget 
his good resolutions, and hurt you, with the idea 
of revenging himself on your dad. How about 
that, Elmer ; is my logic sound ?” 

“Yes, there’s no use taking unnecessary risks,” 
admitted the scout-master, “and common prudence 
demands that Rufus should keep away from Jem. 
Later on, if he does find that a terrible mistake has 
been made, it would be easy to come back up here 
and square things up with the poacher. But it 
certainly pleases me to know that the home influ- 
ence is working on Jem’s revengeful mind. If the 
mother is anything like that splendid little clear- 
eyed chap I don’t wonder at it, either.” 

Secretly, Elmer was more determined than ever 
to try and make the personal acquaintance of Con- 
rad’s mother, the daughter of that once famous 
Swedish violinist whose bow had thrilled countless 
thousands, and drawn genuine tears from their 
eyes. 

The subject was by common consent dropped 
then and there, though, of course, it would remain 
to agitate the mind of Rufus long afterwards. 
Indeed, the boy seemed to be unusually quiet dur- 
ing the balance of that afternoon, and even while 
they sat around the crackling camp-fire after sup- 
per had been disposed of. 

Elmer could guess the reason why. The tender- 


108 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


foot had, in the first place, been under a most 
severe strain when he experienced that peril with 
the deadly snake. It would have an effect upon 
his nervous system for some little time ; and pos- 
sibly he might even awaken from sleep occasion- 
ally with a half-suppressed cry of horror, as 
though in his dreams he again saw that horrid 
reptile with its great coils, its flat square head 
drawn back for striking, and its tail elevated so 
that the monotonous danger signal at the tip could 
continue to buzz angrily. 

Then again the boy had taken that accusation 
on the part of the poacher quite to heart. It could 
be easily seen that he had a great affection for his 
father, even though it was his fond mother who 
had always given in to his whims, and come near 
utterly spoiling Eufus by her favors. 

“It galls him to have heard any one accuse his 
father of being a trickster,” was what Elmer told 
himself, as he noticed the soberness of Rufus, 
while the others in the circle about the fire chat- 
tered away, and seemed to be enjoying themselves 
hugely. 

He had not changed his own plans a particle on 
account of hearing about the visit paid to the camp 
by Jem Shock. If anything, his resolution was 
stronger than ever to see more of Conrad, and 
perhaps meet his mother. 

All of them were pretty tired, and, of course, 
as the tenderfoot pair had secured so little sleep 


THE STRANGE MESSAGE JEM LEFT 109 


on the first night, it was likely they wonld soon 
he “dead to the world” after letting their heads 
fall on their crude pillows. These were made out 
of a slip filled with sweet hemlock browse stripped 
by hand fresh from the tree, and fragrant as could 
be, with the incense of the woods. This bosky odor 
in itself is said to be conducive to sound slumber ; 
at least all who spend their vacations close to 
Nature’s heart so affirm, and they should know. 

The night passed without any sort of alarm. 
Indeed, Alec and Rufus, once they got to sleep, 
knew next to nothing up to the time Lil Artha 
aroused them by beating on his frying-pan gong, 
as “the first call to breakfast.” 

They were glad to see that again the weather 
favored them, since there were all the signs of a 
pleasant day ahead. Elmer, however, warned the 
new recruits not to be too optimistic, because after 
the warmth of the last few days, it was likely that 
some sort of storm might develop. 

It was arranged that George should change 
places with Lil Artha on this day, and accompany 
the two surveyors as a guard. The tall scout in- 
sisted on his carrying the gun along with him. 

“Of course you won’t need it to shoot any deer 
you happen to scare up, George,” the owner went 
on to tell him, “but, as we saw yesterday, there 
may crop up conditions that make the having of 
a shooting-iron mighty handy. You may not need 
a gun at all, but if you do you wantit right there.” 


110 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


Lil Artha possibly bad something in mind which 
he wanted to do while left behind. He kept his 
own counsel, however, and Elmer, knowing that 
the tall scout was to be thoroughly trusted, did 
not ask questions. 

So along about nine in the morning, when he 
thought it likely he would be apt to find Conrad 
seated in his favorite nook and playing some of his 
dreamy airs, all of them creations of his own 
brain, Elmer started forth. Lil Artha of course 
could easily surmise from the direction he took 
that he meant to look the boy up again, but im- 
mersed in his own affairs, he said nothing, only 
waved a cheery goodbye after the other. 

So Elmer strode along, and this time he paid 
a little less attention to the many interesting 
things that cropped up on this side or that, for his 
thoughts were mostly concerned with Conrad, and 
his quaint thrilling music, which he yearned to 
hear again. 


CHAPTEB X 


A CABIN IN THE CLEARING 

As the scout-master found himself drawing near 
the spot where he had had his former interesting 
meeting with little Conrad, he listened with eager- 
ness to catch the first faint notes from the quaver- 
ing strings of the wonderful violin that had oncei 
been in the possession of Ovid Anderson. 

“Pm no judge of such instruments myself,” 
Elmer had told his chums when speaking of the 
matter, “but I expect that violin must be a valu- 
able piece of polished wood. It certainly had an 
extra sweet singing tone to me, and seemed to just 
talk as the boy drew his bow over the strings. I 
wouldn’t be surprised now if it turned out to be 
a Stradivarius or a Cremona, which I understand 
represent the finest makes of violins known to the 
profession.” 

When George seemed inclined to scoff at the 
idea, since such an instrument was likely to be 
worth thousands of dollars, and would have been 
sold long ago to get common necessities, Elmer 
had also told him that perhaps the daughter of 
111 


112 TENDERFOOT SQUAD 

the famous player would have parted with her 
soul before allowing that remembrance of her 
father leave her house. 

Then Elmer caught the first faint sound of 
music. It thrilled him as he continued to hurry 
forward, and the sounds became stronger. Yes, 
and sure enough, there was lacking now some of 
that sadness he had detected in the playing of Con- 
rad on the preceding day. Doubtless hope filled 
the aspiring heart of the lad. His talk with his 
mother may have given him new zeal, and the rain- 
bow of promise was arching his heaven even then 
as he played, and waited for his new friend to 
appear. 

“That sounds more like it,” Elmer told himself, 
“and shows what a creature of circumstances a 
genius must always be. Even this child makes 
the music he finds in his own soul. But it’s sweeter 
by far than what he played yesterday, for there is 
the breath of hope and promise in every note.” 

He soon came in sight of the familiar stump, 
and found the lad curled up there as before, with 
his violin tucked under his chin; just as though 
he might be to the manner born, while his deft 
right hand wielded the bow so tenderly that the 
daintiest sort of sound came forth at his command. 

But he was watching at the same time, and no 
sooner did Elmer appear than the playing 
abruptly ceased, while the boy came running to 
meet him. Elmer then felt sorry that he had not 


A CABIN IN THE CLEARING 


113 


remained in concealment a while longer, so that 
he might have enjoyed more of that crude but 
appealing music. 

“Oh! Pm glad to see you again, Elmer!” ex- 
claimed the boy, as he held out his hand, which 
the other did not attempt to squeeze too roughly, 
for he remembered that those little digits had to 
retain their sensitiveness to a remarkable degree 
in order to coax persuasive notes to come forth. 

“But before we do any talking,” said Elmer, 
“you must let me hear you play again. I notice 
that you are in a more joyous mood today, for 
it shows in your music. Please sit on your stump 
again, Conrad, and humor me for a while. After- 
wards we can have a nice long chat ; and Pm mean- 
ing to ask a great favor of you later.” 

The boy’s eyes flashed with genuine pleasure. It 
was evidently a treat for him to have an audience 
besides the squirrels and rabbits, with perhaps a 
curious old red fox that, prowling around in 
search of a dinner, may have stopped to investi- 
gate the origin of those queer squeaks and twirls, 
and those sobbing notes, so like a hen partridge 
clucking to her brood. 

For possibly ten minutes or so he played with 
scarcely any intermission. Elmer thought he 
could never tire of drinking in the sweet combi- 
nations of sounds which that deft little hand 
tempted from the five strings of the violin. It 
seemed as though the spirit of the old virtuosa 


114 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


must haunt the sacred instrument, and give forth 
some of his choicest chords through the medium 
of his descendant, heir to his undoubted genius. 

And it also seemed as though the lad’s power 
to delineate the sounds that appealed to him from 
the woods and waters was unlimited, for he seldom 
repeated as he went on, making up astonishing 
strain after strain. 

E]mer was more than satisfied now his first 
impression had not been wrong. He felt doubly 
convinced that all this lad needed to develop -into 
one of the greatest players the world had ever 
known was the directing hand of a master, who 
could guide him past the rocks on which his young 
talent might be wrecked if not taken in time. 

“Now, that is enough for today,” said Conrad, 
suddenly allowing his hand holding the bow to 
drop ; “I never try to play when something inside 
tells me to stop. And I’m eager to tell you some- 
thing good. My mother wants to meet you, 
Elmer.” 

This intelligence caused the scout-master to 
smile with pleasure. 

“Why,” he exclaimed eagerly, “do you know, 
that was the favor I meant when I said I wanted 
to ask you something. I have been wishing I could 
meet the mother of my new little friend ; for I am 
sure she must be a remarkable woman.” 

“So she is,” stoutly asserted Conrad, faithful 
little soul ; “and the best mother there ever could 


A CABIN IN THE CLEARING 


115 


be. All I know she has taught me, for, you see, 
she used to be a school teacher once, after grand- 
father died, and the money was lost.” 

“You told her about me, then!” asked Elmer. 

“Why, of course ; I tell her everything that hap- 
pens to me !” Conrad declared, simply. “I couldn't 
have a secret from my mother, could I! And you 
ought to have seen how her eyes sparkled when 
she heard what you said about seeing I had a 
chance to learn the many things I ought to know 
about using a violin properly. Why, Elmer, I 
guess it must have been the wish of her heart, that 
some one would come along and say that ; because 
she took me in her arms and hugged me, yes, and 
she cried some, too, I know she did, for I felt hot 
tears on my cheek; but then it must have been 
because she was so happy, for she laughed ever so 
hard right afterwards.” 

Elmer himself was deeply affected. He could 
picture that loving mother, possessed of the knowl- 
edge that the fires of genius burned in the soul of 
her child, and each night praying that in due time 
the opportunity might come for that to be devel- 
oped into a glorious flame ; and how overcome she 
might be on realizing that the one great wish of 
her whole life seemed about to be realized. 

They talked on for quite a long while. Conrad 
with a child’s natural curiosity asked many ques- 
tions about the outside world, of which he had seen 
so little of recent years, since his father seemed 


116 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


to want to get away from all mankind. Elmer 
told him many things that excited his interest. 
Then finally he mentioned the fact that time was 
passing, and before a great while he would have 
to think of returning to his chums at the camp. 

“I’d like very much to meet your good mother 
before I go back, Conrad,” he suggested, at which 
the lad seized his hand and began to lead him off. 

“So you shall,” he remarked, briskly, “and I 
know she’s waiting for me to fetch you over, be- 
cause she told me to be sure and do so. You’ll 
like my mother, Elmer, I know you will.” 

Elmer could understand why a mother should 
be anxious to meet one who had made such a vast 
promise to her boy, and which might mean so 
much in shaping his destiny. 

“She wants to size me up,” he told himself, with 
a satisfied smile, as he walked along at the side 
of the chattering boy; “she wants to see if I look 
like a vain boaster, or one she could trust. Well, 
I hope I don’t disappoint her, that’s all.” 

Any one who knew Elmer Chenowith well could 
have assured that anxious mother she could place 
the most implicit trust in a boy built after his type ; 
his word was as good as his bond any day in his 
home town; and that is where they know a boy 
best of all. 

Pretty soon they sighted a cabin through the 
trees. Smoke was coming from the chimney, made 
of slabs, and hard mud that had gained the con- 


A CABIN IN THE CLEARING 


117 


sistency of cement by the drying process. Elmer 
smiled when he saw that it was of the same blue 
consistency as the thin column that had caught 
his attention on the preceding morning, and caused 
him to stroll that way later on. Yes, and he could 
catch the incense of burning hickory, than which 
there cannot be anything more delicious in the nos- 
trils of a real fire-worshipper such as Elmer. 

Their coming must have been noticed, for 
quickly a form appeared in the open doorway. It 
was that of a small woman, evidently Conrad’s 
mother, for the boy quickly waved his violin to- 
ward her, and called out joyously: 

“Here he is, mother ; I’ve brought Elmer home 
with me to meet you, just as I promised I would !” 

She greeted the scout warmly, and asked him in- 
side where it was cool, out of the sun. Elmer felt 
rather than saw her eyes fixed eagerly on his face. 
Apparently Conrad’s mother must have been 
more than satisfied with what she saw there, for 
she looked very contented, and even happy. 

They were soon chatting as though the best of 
friends. Elmer told her about his home, and how 
he felt positive there were several well-to-do peo- 
ple in the town, lovers of good music, who would, 
if only they could hear Conrad play, be delighted 
to make up a generous purse and see that the 
grandson of so famous a man as Ovid Anderson 
was placed under the proper teacher in New York. 

He also told about the father of one of his con?- 


118 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


rades having sent a girl abroad to have her voice 
cultivated, and how after she came to sing in 
opera, and turned out to be a great star, she had 
insisted on returning every cent he had expended 
on her, so that he might pass it along to some 
other poor girl or boy who had the gift of music, 
without the opportunity to accomplish results 
through lack of means. 

Elmer was too wise to mention that name of 
Snodgrass when telling this; he feared that it 
might he too much like flaunting a red flag before 
a bull; for if Mrs. Shock shared Jem’s antipathy 
for the Snodgrass clan, she would likely decline 
to let Conrad profit by such generosity. 

It was plain to be seen that what he said in- 
terested her greatly. She told him more or less of 
her hopes and fears concerning the prodigy over 
whose future such clouds of uncertainty hung. 
Elmer sympathized with her, too, and quite won 
her heart by his manner; but then that was not 
an unusual thing with the scout leader, who by 
Nature had been gifted with a winning way that 
gained him hosts of loyal friends. 

A little to the boy’s surprise, too, she even ven- 
tured to speak of herself. Naturally she must 
have guessed that his curiosity would be aroused 
on finding the daughter of a famous man mated 
with one whom people deigned to look down on, 
and even shun, though, for that matter, Jem Shock 
wanted none of their society. 


A CABIN IN THE CLEARING 


119 


“They do not know him as Conrad and I do,” 
she went on, hastily, after introducing the subject 
of her own accord. “I first met him away up in 
the mountains. After my father died, and the 
property was taken from me through an error in 
his will, I taught school for some years to gain 
a living. Then, one fall when I was in the Adi- 
rondacks, it chanced that a dreadful forest fire 
swept down from every side. I was caught in the 
midst of it, and I had given up all hope of sur- 
viving ; when he came and took me up in his arms. 
Somehow I seemed to feel that all would be well. 
Oh ! how strong' he was, and how he braved every 
sort of peril in order to carry me safely through. 
It was then and there that my heart went out to 
him. And afterwards we were married. He has 
always been the same to me, tender and kind; 
though latterly his life has been soured through 
the treachery of one whom he trusted.” 

She stopped there, sighed, and looked sad. 
Elmer would have liked very much to know how 
they came to be there near Raccoon Bluff, which, 
by a strange twist of Fate, had recently come into 
the possession of the very man against whom Jem 
Shock believed he had such a grievance. It was 
too delicate a subject, however, for him to attempt 
to handle ; she must tell him, if at all, through her 
own volition, Elmer concluded. 

But somehow it did him good to hear such fine 
things said of the rough Jem ; for it coincided with 


120 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


his belief that one cannot always tell from the 
exterior what may be within the shell. If only 
now Rufus could discover that it had all been a 
grievous mistake, and that his father would give 
anything to make amends for the unfortunate past, 
how delightful things would be. 

So Elmer, as he continued to talk with the little 
lady — for she was that in every sense, although 
her dress may have been of the cheapest material, 
and there was a painful lack of many comforts in 
her modest cabin home — came to know her as well 
as if he had met her long before. Glimpses of her 
life, her hopes and fears were constantly passing 
before his mental observation; and he was more 
than glad now that he had taken that notion to 
walk in the direction of the blue smoke wreaths 
eddying upward in the lazy morning air several 
miles distant. 

Conrad had put his beloved violin carefully 
away. It could be seen that his whole heart was 
tied up in that precious instrument. Elmer, re- 
membering the dispute he had had with unbeliev- 
ing George, asked about the violin, and whether 
it was really the former possession of the lad’s 
famous grandfather. 

“Yes, that is true,” she told him, sighing again. 
“He used it all of his last years of playing. It 
shared some of his most wonderful triumphs, and 
he loved it as the apple of his eye. It is a genuine 
Stradivarius instrument. I could have sold it for 


A CABIN IN THE CLEARING 121 

thousands of dollars, since it had once been his 
means of fascinating untold myriads of music 
lovers; but that would have killed me. It is all 
I have left to remember him by ; and besides, some- 
thing told me when Conrad came that he was des- 
tined to inherit the talent.” 

Just then Elmer saw the boy spring down from 
his seat close beside his mother. At the same 
time he heard the sound of a heavy footfall, and 
guessed what that meant. Jem Shock was coming 
home. How would he greet one of the boys from 
the camp where that son of the man he had such 
cause for hating held forth? Elmer stood up. 
If he felt the least tremor in the region of his 
heart, he certainly gave no sign of this, for his 
face was wreathed in one of his most genial smiles 
as he waited for the poacher to appear. 

Then a form darkened the open doorway, and 
with a shout Conrad rushed forward, to be gath- 
ered up in the arms of Jem Shock, and held tight 
to his breast. And seeing this Elmer somehow 
could not doubt but that it was all bound to come 
out right in the end, no matter what clouds might 
drift across the sky meanwhile. 


CHAPTER XI 


WHEN THE STOEM BROKE 

When Jem Shock discovered that he and his 
wife and boy were not alone in the cabin his man- 
ner instantly changed. Elmer saw the heavy brow 
knit, as thongh in sudden suspicion. He remem- 
bered that this man distrusted all his fellows, and 
that he had even defied the majesty of the law 
with regard to shooting wild game out of season, 
as well as catching fish by methods called illegal. 

His manner of life would make him scan with 
suspicious eyes any stranger who came to his 
isolated cabin home, and who might just as well 
as not be some clever game warden, bent on secur- 
ing evidence that would convict him. 

“This is Elmer, and he is the good friend who 
promised to see that I got a chance to play my 
violin the proper way,” said Conrad, with a dig- 
nity that would well have become a grown man. 

As he spoke, he took the young scout-master by 
the hand and led him a pace or two forward. El- 
mer tried to be most cordial. He wanted to win 
the good will of this man, for many reasons. First, 
122 


WHEN THE STORM BROKE 


123 


there was Conrad, and his possible brilliant future, 
if his amazing genius could be placed under the 
fostering care of a master. Then there was El- 
mer’s belief that Jem had been badly treated by 
the whims of Fortune, and possibly the greed of 
some man ; he needed a friend if ever any one did. 

So Elmer held out his hand as he advanced. 
He also smiled warmly, as if to chase away that 
look of distrust he could see gathering on Jem’s 
strong face. 

“We have met before, Jem, on the road, while 
our party was on the way up here,” he went on 
to say in as cordial a tone as he could muster. 
“You remember I said then I hoped to see some- 
thing more of you, and invited you to stop in and 
have a cup of coffee with us, in case you happened 
to be passing our camp. And now that I have 
made the acquaintance of Conrad and your good 
wife, I hope we can be friends, Jem.” 

The man still continued to frown. Under his 
heavy eyebrows he was looking keenly at the 
speaker. Elmer’s manner was surely enough to 
disarm suspicion; and doubtless he would have 
quite won the man over then and there only for 
one thing. This was the presence of a boy in the 
party bearing that unfortunate name of Snod- 
grass ; and which seemed to represent everything 
that was evil, in the estimation of the poacher. 

So Jem did not make the first move to take the 
extended hand. If he had suspected the other to 


124 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


be ready to suddenly snap a pair of handcuffs on 
his wrists, he could not have held more aloof. 

“I’m not making friends with anybody these 
days,” he managed to mutter, “leastways when 
they are so thick with the son of the man who sold 
me out and left me high and dry on the bank.” 

“But the rest of us never heard of you before, 
Jem ; and even Rufus says it must be some terrible 
mistake, because his father would never do such a 
mean trick, even if he is a real-estate operator. 
But, Jem, I want to be friends with you just be- 
cause of Conrad here. It would be a burning 
shame if he didn’t get his chance to prove that 
his grandfather’s talent is running in his blood. 
I am sure that I’ll be able to interest some really 
good people, all of them lovers of the best music, 
in Conrad; and that arrangements can be made 
to put him under the charge of a leading teacher, 
who will see that he has a chance to thrill the 
world, when he grows older.” 

The man’s face lighted up for just a brief in- 
terval. Perhaps he had dreamed of some day see- 
ing Conrad the centre of a madly applauding 
throng of well-dressed people, who would be ready 
to crown the lad as the greatest genius of the 
decade. Then the old doubts returned again, and 
he scowled darkly. 

“We may be poor,” he said bitterly, “which 
isn’t my fault, but my misfortune; yet we’re not 
paupers ; and even to see my boy snatch the prize 


WHEN THE STORM BROKE 


125 


he deserves I wouldn’t beg money from any living 
man or woman. I’ll die before I accept charity. 
If I had my just dues there would be plenty of 
money to fix Conrad out; as it is he must wait, 
and take his chance.” 

“But, Jem, this wouldn’t be charity,” Elmer 
insisted, earnestly. “It could be done on strictly 
business principles, a bargain being made in black 
and white, so that a record of the expense might 
be kept; and after Conrad began to earn big 
money, he could gradually return the loan to those 
kind friends who had been so deeply interested 
in his fortunes. Don’t shut him out from his only 
chance, Jem, just because one man may have in- 
jured you. There are other kinds of people in 
this world, kind-hearted people who are always 
looking for an opportunity to help struggling 
genius. Oh ! please don’t decide in a hurry. Think 
it over, talk it over with your wife here before you 
turn the offer down ; because it is given in good 
faith, Jem.” 

Mrs. Shock listened, and her eyes grew moist. 
She apparently did not think it wise to interfere 
while a stranger was present, but Elmer believed 
her influence was bound to be thrown in favor of 
the proposition. Therefore he did not quite de- 
spair, though the poacher continued to shake his 
head, and keep his teeth firmly clenched, after the 
manner of a stubborn man who has made up his 
mind, and against whom all power cannot prevail. 


120 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


You see, Elmer, young though he may have been, 
was somewhat of a philosopher. He knew that 
gentle influence may sometimes accomplish much 
more than the most sturdy strength. He had 
never forgotten the moral of that old story about 
the traveler who was trudging along a country 
road, when the two rival elements, the Sun and 
the Wind, entered into a heated argument as to 
which might be the more powerful, and determined 
to test their assertions upon the devoted head of 
the pilgrim. So the wind blew harder and harder, 
but only had the effect of making the traveler 
draw his cloak tighter about him. Then the sun 
has his turn, and began to warm up to his task, 
until the almost baked man was glad to throw off 
his cloak, which result gave the victory to the 
heavenly orb. 

And so perhaps the gentle but persuasive influ- 
ence of Conrad’s mother might in the end prevail 
against the wild gusts of the man’s anger. Elmer 
at least would continue to hug that hope to his 
heart. 

He saw that his continued presence would do no 
further good. It were perhaps better that he took 
himself off, and allowed the seed he had sown to 
germinate. Time can often work wonders, and the 
look Mrs. Shock gave him somehow further 
aroused his confidence that all might yet be well. 

So he said he would be going, and the last he 
saw of them Conrad was waving his hand in fare- 


WHEN THE STORM BROKE W 

well, while his mother nodded her head signifi- 
cantly. As for Jem, he continued to stand there 
looking glum, as though a riot of thoughts might 
be holding high carnival in his brain, the old sus- 
picion and hatred for mankind engaged in a des- 
perate conflict with newly awakened hopes. 

Elmer made his way back to camp, and arrived 
long before noon came, so that he had plenty of 
time to rest and think over the situation. He 
wondered whether he had succeeded in making 
any progress by his morning’s expedition. He had 
met Jem, for one thing, and told him how much 
he was interested in Conrad’s playing. Yes, El- 
mer concluded that the game he meant to play 
had been advanced more or less since the coming 
of another day. 

The surveyors came trooping into camp along 
about noon, heated and tired. Rufus was appar- 
ently getting quite enough of that hard work, for 
the time being. Besides, he admitted that he had 
gone sufficiently far by then to make sure that the 
previous survey had been a failure, and that the 
job would have to be done over again in order 
to get the right lines. 

Elmer was not sorry to hear him say that, and 
for several reasons. First of all, he wanted the 
tenderfeet to have further opportunities for pick- 
ing up more or less useful knowledge of woodcraft, 
while in camp ; and this could not be done if most 
of their time was spent in using those instruments, 


128 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


and worrying about hacking new lines through 
the thickets and swamps that beset their course. 

Then again Elmer did not like the looks of the 
weather. It was beginning to act suspiciously, 
as though a big storm might be brewing. The 
sun still shone up there in the sky, and both Rufus 
and Alec only thought it insufferably hot ; but to 
one more experienced in such things, there was a 
deeper meaning in the heavy atmosphere, the 
strange silence on the part of birds and smaller 
animals, and the peculiar bank of clouds that lay 
low along the distant southwestern horizon. 

Lil Artha sensed danger, too, for he spoke of 
it as they were eating lunch. 

“Perhaps, Elmer,” was the way he put it, “we’d 
be sensible if we took an extra reef or two in our 
sail this afternoon, while we have the chance. 
An ounce of prevention is better than a pound 
of cure, I always did believe; and scouts are 
taught that it’s wise in time of peace to prepare 
for war.” 

“Hey! what’s all this talk mean?” demanded 
the bewildered Rufus. “To hear you, Lil Artha, 
a fellow would think we had something terrible 
hanging over our heads. It must be you’re prog- 
nosticating a storm , but I don’t see what makes 
you think that, when the sun never shone brighter. 
Do the birds carry the secret, and have you fel- 
lows found a way to understand their lingo?” 

“Well, in a way that’s correct, too, Rufus,” 


WHEN THE STORM BROKE 129 

chuckled the lanky scout. “When you get on fa- 
miliar terms with everything that lives in the 
woods, you can tell a heap. It does seem that 
insects, birds and animals are given instinct in 
place of reasoning powers. So the squirrel knows 
when it promises to be a severe winter, and he 
lays in an extra big store of nuts. And in the 
same way something warns these little creatures 
when a storm is coming, although human beings 
see no sign. Well, from the change that’s taken 
place all around us we scouts can give a good 
guess that these same birds and insects are mak- 
ing ready for trouble ; and it’s bound to come from 
that quarter yonder, where you can see a bank of 
dark clouds hugging the horizon.” 

“But, Lil Artha,” protested Alec, strenuously, 
“I noticed yon bank o’ clouds mair nor two hours 
back, and I gie ye my word it hasn’t moved a 
wee bit in a’ that time.” 

“Oh ! that’s often the way a storm comes along,” 
the other assured him, in a positive fashion, as 
though he had no doubt concerning the accuracy 
of his prediction. “Clouds will lie low for half 
a day, and then suddenly with a shift of the wind 
spread out over the whole heavens like magic. I 
promise you that before two hours have gone by 
you’ll be stopping your ears with your fingers so’s 
to shut out the crash of thunder.” 

Of course, as both Elmer and George seemed to 
agree with what Lil Artha said — and it was really 


130 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


wonderful to have “Doubting George” let an op- 
portunity to object pass him by, the greenhorns 
had to believe what they heard. 

When lunch had been disposed of, Elmer gave 
orders that set the whole five working to improve 
the security of the camp. Extra pegs were driven 
deep down so as to hold the tent more firmly ; and 
some bits of strong rope were also brought into 
play with this same end in view. 

Rufus could not restrain his amusement, and 
finally burst out with : 

“Well, from the way you’re carrying on, fel- 
lows, it must be you expect a regular old hurri- 
cane to break loose in this region. I guess it would 
take a whole lot of wind to tear that tent loose 
from its moorings now. Besides, we’re sheltered 
somewhat by those trees over yonder.” 

“Wait and see, that’s all,” warned Lil Artha, 
not one whit abashed. “You’ve never been caught 
in a big storm, and so you can’t know how the 
wind tears at a tent as if it had a special spite 
against the canvas. I’ve seen more’n one tent car- 
ried away like a big balloon, and lodged far up in 
a tree. This is only following out the scout rule 
of preparedness. It’s better to err on the side 
of safety, Rufus ; just remember that as you pass 
along the road. It’s no sign of timidity to get 
ready for trouble ; the wisest of business men al- 
ways insure their property, and when the storm 


WHEN THE STORM BROKE 


131 


comes they weather it, where the more reckless 
go to the wall.” 

“That’s sound logic, Lil Artha,” commented 
Elmer, smiling to hear the other give such splen- 
did advice; for, as a rule, the lengthy scout was 
a bit inclined toward that same recklessness 
himself. 

In many other ways did they prepare for the 
coming storm, particularly in seeing that a small 
stock of wood was placed so that it might be kept 
dry ; since they might be glad of a fire later on. 
Their stock of provisions, too, had to be provided 
for; and Rufus also covered the old car with a 
tarpaulin which he had fetched along for that 
purpose. 

During the last half hour of work even the most 
skeptical found himself forced to admit that there 
was no longer any doubt about the approach of bad 
weather. As the dark bank of clouds advanced up 
the heavens the birds again made their appear- 
ance, and flew wildly about, uttering warning cries 
that impressed Rufus visibly. 

Then they began to hear distant muttering of 
heavy thunder that was soon causing a distinctly 
felt vibration of the earth under their feet. The 
wind had entirely ceased, and there seemed to be 
an ominous calm upon Nature. Rufus and Alec 
had an apprehensive expression on their faces as 
they waited for further developments. 

“Don’t you think it might be safer over among 


132 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


the trees than here, Elmer ?” asked Rufus at one 
time, after the thunder had temporarily died 
away. 

“Not on your life !” burst out Lil Artha, taking 
it on himself to answer. “If the gale gets half as 
severe as I expect, you’ll hear trees crashing down 
like toothpicks. It’d be all your life was worth 
to be caught in the woods then. An experienced 
hand might manage to escape, but often the best of 
them get caught under a falling tree and killed 
outright. That’s one reason why we built our 
camp away from all trees but this dwarf one that 
isn’t apt to go down, and serves as a sort of wind- 
brake, you see. But listen, everybody!” 

A distant but terrifying sound stole to their 
ears. The lack of a movement in the atmosphere 
had prevented them from catching it sooner. 

“Is that the storm coming?” asked Rufus, trying 
to keep his voice steady, though there was a dis- 
tinct quaver to it, despite his efforts. 

“Yes, that’s the wind, and back of it is the first 
burst of rain,” advised Elmer. “It will be on us 
in a jiffy now, so we’d better get inside, and lace 
the opening up. We faced the tent to the north 
purposely, you see, because we knew that any 
storm at this time of year was likely to jump out 
of the southwest.” 

Hardly had they made the flap secure when the 
gale broke upon them. 


CHAPTER XII 


SCOTCH BLOOD 

Among other things, Lil Artha had seen to it 
that a pot of coffee was made ready just before 
he scattered the fire, and put out the last ember. 
This would keep warm for a long time, and they 
could manage to make out a supper with some 
of the things that would not need cooking. 

With a rush and a roar the storm burst upon 
them. Wildly did the stout tent sway as the wind 
broke against it. Rufus understood speedily 
enough why the scout comrades who had had ex- 
perience went to so much extra pains to fasten 
it so securely. There were lots of times when, de- 
spite *all the precautions, he feared the canvas 
could never hold out against that terrible wind 
that made playthings of forest monarchs, and 
seemed capable of sweeping everything from its 
path. 

Never, so long as they lived, would the two ten- 
derfoot scouts forget that night ; it would always 
be marked with a white stone in their minds, such 
were the tortures they endured. Often Rufus 
133 


134 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


would half squirm to his knees, his face turned 
pale with apprehension, as he clutched the sleeve 
of Elmer or Lil Artha’s coat, in deadly fear that 
the worst was about to happen. 

The rain descended in torrents, and the light- 
ning flashed in a way to fairly cause them to shut 
their blinded eyes ; while terrific bursts of thunder 
rocked the ground and made them think a salvo 
from the heaviest guns known to modern warfare 
was being fired. 

So the time dragged wearily along, hour after 
hour. No one dreamed of trying to snatch a wink 
of sleep while this din was going on. They sat 
there, glad to know that, thanks to the admirable 
way in which the heavy canvas had been water- 
proofed, and the addition of a fly over the tent, 
they were able to keep the rain out. Of course a 
small amount did seep under certain portions of 
the tent, despite all their precautions, and the 
drain that had been dug above to carry the flood 
off; but they were able to keep pretty dry, all 
things considered. 

With the storm came a cool air that chilled them 
to the bone. They had a couple of lanterns, one of 
which was kept lighted all the time, and this en- 
abled them to see what was going on. Lil Artha 
set a good example, after night came on, by wrap- 
ping his warm blanket about his shoulders, as he 
sat there Indian fashion. Bufus was indeed glad 
to copy this example, and found it well worth while 


SCOTCH BLOOD 


135 


for the additional comfort he secured thereby; 
and in the end all of them did the same thing. 

Every now and then they heard awe-inspiring 
sounds that Lil Artha told the tenderfeet were 
produced by falling trees. Each crash gave Rufus 
cause for a fresh shiver ; he could not help think- 
ing of what he had proposed concerning their be- 
ing likely to find more safety if they took up their 
station under the forest growth. He was glad 
now in every atom of his being that those more 
experienced scouts had frowned down upon such 
a silly proposition. 

Along about midnight, however, Elmer discov- 
ered positive signs that the worst was over. His 
announcement brought a feeling of relief to Rufus 
and Alec ; indeed, even Lil Artha was heard to give 
expression to his gratitude. George, however, 
grumbled, as was his habit of old. 

“Tough luck, that’s what I call it, fellows,” he 
went on, as though wholly disgusted with the 
freaks of the weather. “Why couldn’t this old 
storm have held oft till we got back home again? 
What business did it have coming down on us right 
in the midst of our camping? Why, we haven’t 
begun to enjoy ourselves much yet; it’s been all 
work so far; and now everything’s going to be 
soaking wet, the mud’ll bother us, and like as not 
a second rain’ll follow the first. Things pretty 
nearly always do happen in threes, you notice.” 

“Oh ! well, we’re all alive, George, for one thing,” 


136 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


Lil Artha told the grumbler. “And we’ve still got 
heaps and heaps of good stuff to eat along. Things 
might have been a whole lot worse than this, let 
me tell you.” 

“Huh ! I can’t just see that,” continued the other, 
though in a fainter tone, as if really half ashamed 
of his complaining manner ; which had become sec- 
ond nature with George, so that he often spoke 
in that way without thinking how badly it sounded. 

“If only this terrible storm will stop, all would 
be forgiven,” said Rufus. “We may get a few 
winks of sleep yet before dawn comes. And I 
guess the ground will dry up pretty well by noon. 
Besides, I’m done creeping through the woods and 
among the thickets, trying to follow those slashes 
made by the fake surveyors. We can lie around 
camp here, until it’s fit to go abroad.” 

“Spoken like a true scout, Rufus,” Elmer told 
him, encouragingly. “That’s what a fellow ought 
to learn the first thing after he dons the khaki — 
that things are never so bad but what they might 
be worse. George here never did learn his lesson 
in the right way, more’s the pity. If you keep on, 
Rufus, you’ll be a better specimen of a true scout 
than George is today, with all his experience.” 

George did not say anything, but Elmer hoped 
the seed might have fallen on fallow ground, so 
that it would take root and grow ; for there were 
times when, like most of the other fellows in the 
Hickory Ridge Troop, he did get mightily tired 


SCOTCH BLOOD 


137 


of hearing the remarks of a natural-born 
“croaker,” as Lil Artha called the other. 

But Elmer was right when he said the backbone 
of the storm had been broken. Inside of another 
half hour even Rufus was fain to admit that the 
thunder had lost considerable of its fierceness, 
while even the flashes of lightning came less fre- 
quently, nor were they so vivid as before. 

“The rain has stopped, fellows !” announced Lil 
Artha, as he sidled along over to one side of the 
tent, and cautiously began to undo the securely 
fastened flap; after which he thrust his head out 
so as to take an observation. 

When he drew back again the others eagerly 
awaited his report. 

“Why, the clouds are breaking, and I even saw a 
star right overhead,” announced the tall member 
of the little party, enthusiastically ; “which proves 
that the end of the concert is close by. That last 
thunder-clap was some distance away. Guess we 
may be getting a little snooze inside of another 
half hour. For one Pm going to hunt out a dry 
place and make ready.” 

There was considerable of a scurry on the part 
of everybody, with this end in view. Rufus was 
heard to wish most ardently that he had still an- 
other blanket to huddle under, for that night air, 
after the violent battle of the elements, seemed 
to be very chilly and piercing, since they could 
not enjoy the luxury of a fire. 


138 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


Nevertheless, in spite of all this, when another 
hour had crept along all of the boys were sound 
asleep. No longer did the harsh voice of the thun- 
der disturb them ; and the fitful glow of lightning 
came from far off. The lantern had been extin- 
guished, for they might need what small allowance 
of kerosene they had fetched along with them ; and 
therefore darkness reigned wifhin the sheltering 
tent. 

They had some hours of sleep before morning 
found them stirring. There was more or less dis- 
inclination to be the first out, but Lil Artha proved 
to be the martyr and presently the crackle of a 
fire tempted Rufus and Alec forth ; while even that 
sly old fox, George, opened one eye, and began 
to sniff the air, as though he fancied he had gotten 
the first whiff of sweet bacon frying in the pan. 

Elmer had been close upon the heels of Lil 
Artha, of course, and between the two of them 
some of the ravages of the storm in the camp had 
been repaired long before the rest put in an ap- 
pearance. 

A warm and bountiful breakfast seemed to put 
new animation in them all. Even that born grum- 
bler, George, admitted the sun did shine “f airly 
well,” and that coffee, bacon and flapjacks with 
syrup, all served lavishly as regarded quantity, 
made life worth living again. 

“I don’t believe I was ever so hungry as this 
morning,” Rufus candidly declared, as he gulped 


SCOTCH BLOOD 


139 


down his third cup of coffee, and eyed the last 
flapjack as if tempted to gorge himself, though 
already as full as prudence dictated. 

“That’s because so far in life you’ve lived on 
Easy Street,” Lil Artha told him, “and never have 
known what it meant to miss a single meal. Some 
of us have gone a day without a bite, and we know 
how it goes on an empty stomach. I warrant you 
right now some woods animals are feeling that 
way too, because they couldn’t get around last 
night as usual.” 

It was strange that this casual remark on the 
part of Lil Artha should be fully confirmed before 
a great while had passed, and in a most convinc- 
ing fashion. 

Alec chanced to be the one fated to bring the 
thing about. None of them meant to wander away 
from camp until noon had come, and the warm sun 
had had a chance to dry things out; but being a 
little restless, and, moreover, inspired with a de- 
sire to ascertain if any of those ill-fated trees had 
fallen close to the camp, he picked up a heavy 
walking stick and stepped out. 

“Be sure you don’t go farther than you can hear 
Lil Artha chopping with the ax,” cautioned 
Elmer, seeing him about to take a stroll ; “and if 
you fail to catch any sound, or need help, just give 
a whoop. "We’ll answer right away.” 

“Hoot, mon,” said the Scotch lad, a bit sarcas- 
tically, “d’ye ken I’ve cut me eye-teeth the while 


140 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


as a scout? I’m observing all aboot me, and I find 
it mair interesting than I ever believed could be 
possible. I’m o’er glad now I made up my mind 
to join the troop. Now I’ll gang awa’ and be verra 
careful. And if some fearsome beastie jumps up 
in front o’ me ye’ll hear me shout at the tap o’ 
my voice.” 

He went away, still laughing, as though he 
thought it a good joke. Lil Artha continued to ply 
his ax industriously, meaning to lay by a good 
store of firewood while at the job; though Elmer 
warned him that task should really fall to the 
greenhorns, since neither of them seemed to be 
much of a cook, and it was only fair the various 
duties about the camp should be impartially 
shared alike by all the party. 

Hardly had ten minutes passed when the four 
by the fire heard a shout. Elmer instantly an- 
swered it, thinking, of course, that as Lil Artha 
had dropped his ax Alec wanted some sound to 
serve as a guide to locating the camp. To the 
astonishment, and also consternation of the others, 
they heard the Scotch lad calling: 

“Here’s a hungry cat facing me, and growling 
like everything. Aye, but he’s wild to get at me, 
and I don’t know just what a braw scout should 
do under the circumstances. Shall I gi’e the gillie 
a rap o’er the head wi’ me stick ; or beat a retreat 
like a wise general ? I’m no’ so taken wi’ his looks 
I confess that I’m wishin’ to make his further 


SCOTCH BLOOD 


141 


acquaintance. Hey; ye would bite me, eh? Tak’ 
that, then, and learn better manners I” 

Elmer snatched up another stick, while Lil 
Artha darted over to the tent and immediately 
reappeared bearing his trusty Marlin. They knew 
what it meant to be attacked by an angry bobcat, 
even if it was far in the morning, and these ani- 
mals usually hide during the better part of the 
day, preferring the shades of night for their 
prowling. 

Even as the pair started toward the spot, fol- 
lowed in turn by George and Eufus, as soon as 
the others could manage to find some sort of crude 
weapon, they heard a most terrific crashing going 
on. There were also short cries, now of pain and 
again of momentary triumph, to tell how Alec was 
progressing in his task of beating off the savage 
attack of the hungry wildcat. 

There was no trouble in locating the spot where 
all this disturbance was taking place ; the scuffling 
of Alec’s feet, his jerky cries, and now and then 
a plainly heard snarl from the enraged cat led 
them as truly as the magnetic needle of the mar- 
iner’s compass points out the North Star. 

When they finally came in sight of the little 
woods drama they were thrilled to see how the 
brave Scotch lad managed to keep his four-footed 
enemy at bay by means of his clever strokes with 
his stick. Even as they looked he gave the beast 
a good blow upon the head that rolled it over ; but 


142 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


instantly tlie cat was on its feet once more, and 
leaping at him. The performance was repeated, 
with the same result; bnt in case Alec failed in 
his stroke, he stood a good chance of having the 
animal land on his breast, when its claws and 
teeth would do terrible damage. 

“Get the beast, Lil Artha !” cried Elmer, seeing 
that even their bursting on the scene did not ap- 
pear to intimidate the enraged feline adversary 
that Alec was battling with. 

He had hardly given the word than a report 
sounded. Lil Artha had once been quite a smart 
hunter, though of late his ambition to excel along 
those lines had waned. On this occasion his aim 
was particularly true, for the cat was seen to be 
writhing on the ground, as though fatally injured. 
Lil Artha immediately ran up and dispatched the 
dying beast with several blows from a stone ; for 
although a hunter by instinct, Lil Artha could not 
be cruel and see anything needlessly suffer. 

“I sure hated to have to do it the worst kind,” 
he told Elmer, as he looked down at the now quiet 
beast, ferocious even in death, “because I reckon 
now she’s got kits somewhere near by, which was 
what made her act so savage like. She smelled 
the food in camp, and was sneaking around in 
hopes of stealing something, when Alec, he 
chanced to run across her, and I guess waved his 
stick in a way she didn’t just like. But I had to 


SCOTCH BLOOD 


143 


shoot lier, and you thought the same, Elmer, you 
know.” 

“Yes, it couldn’t be helped,” the scout-master 
told him, “and besides, a fellow need hardly ever 
be ashamed of making way with a wildcat, because 
they are mighty destructive to all game. Why, 
this one beast would, in the course of a year, de- 
vour more young partridges, quail, rabbits and 
squirrels than half a dozen human hunters. And 
besides, I was afraid she might get inside Alec’s 
guard, though he did swing that stick of his in 
great fashion.” 

“A few scratches is all the beastie managed to 
gi’e me,” admitted the still panting Alec, and then, 
as he looked down on his now quiet adversary, he 
shook his head, continuing: “faith I tauld ye to 
tak yersil’ awa’ and leave me alone, but ye knew 
best. I’m awfu’ sorry ye had to be kilt, but it was 
no fault o’ mine.” 

Elmer and Lil Artha exchanged satisfied 
glances. They both felt that for a tenderfoot, 
Alec had proven a credit to the troop, and this 
was encouraging. After all, this outing seemed 
bound to be the making of a couple of embryo 
scouts ; it would bring out whatever good qualities 
they possessed, and show what sort of foundation 
there might be for their immediate future. 

“Come back to camp with me right away, Alec,” 
Elmer told the other, who was still curiously ex- 
amining the dead cat, especially interested in its 


144 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


savage looking claws and the cruel teeth that were 
exposed in the snarl that death had set upon its 
face. “I want to take a look at those same little 
scratches you mention. They may appear harm- 
less enough, hut many a fine hunter has died from 
such simple things.” 

Of course Alec was astounded. He stared hard 
at his hands, and shook his head in a skeptical 
way. 

“I ha’e nae doot but that ye knaw best, Elmer,” 
he finally said, “but would ye tell me the noo how 
such a wee bit o’ scratches could mean so much?” 

“Blood poisoning is apt to set in,” explained the 
other, readily enough, as he locked arms with 
the Scotch lad and hurried him off toward the 
camp. “You see, carnivorous animals that live 
upon the flesh of their prey are apt to have their 
claws contaminated. Even a slight abrasion 
caused by those claws is impregnated with just so 
much danger. Nothing might come of it; but 
scouts believe in taking as little chances as pos- 
sible. I’ve got a phial of permanganate of potash 
along for just such purposes, and we’ll daub some 
of it on. You’ll resemble a -wild Indian with the 
splotches, for it stains a deep purple, but safety 
first before looks.” 

Indeed, Alec did look rather odd after his sev- 
eral slight injuries had been duly attended to, for 
Elmer did not spare the “painting.” 

“I wish me mither could see me the noo,” 


SCOTCH BLOOD 


145 


chuckled the Scotch boy, after he had surveyed his 
mottled appearance in a tiny hand mirror one of 
them had been thoughtful enough to fetch along. 
“Ye ken, she’s often tauld me aboot the Highland 
chiefs in their war-paint in the gude auld days of 
lang syne. I warran ye she’d think her son and 
heir had copied after the McGregor, Rob Roy, ye 
remimber, our outlaw ancestor.” 

Lil Artha was to fetch along the defunct wild- 
cat, for it was designed to save the skin, and pre- 
sent it, when properly tanned, to Alec, who could 
use it in his den at home for a small mat. Every 
time he looked down at it he must be forcibly 
reminded of his stirring adventure, and it would 
serve to encourage him in his endeavor to become 
a first-class scout. 

It was perhaps half an hour afterwards that 
Elmer heard voices, and looking toward the spot 
where Lil Artha had been working with the pelt 
of the bobcat, he was both surprised and thrilled 
to discover that the long-legged scout was talk- 
ing with a small party in whom Elmer immedi- 
ately recognized Conrad Shock! 


CHAPTER Xin 


A CALL FOR HELP 

“What’s this mean?” Elmer heard George say- 
ing, which proved that the other had also discov- 
ered Conrad’s presence. “I reckon that must be 
yonr Boy Wonder with the fiddle and the bow, 
Elmer. Now, whatever brought him away over 
here to visit ns, do yon think? Perhaps his folks 
don’t know that sconts are at home in the woods, 
no matter what sort of gay storm crops np. 
Mebbe now they were afraid some of ns had suf- 
fered. Well, it was nice of them to send a mes- 
senger, anyhow.” 

But Elmer was disposed to view the matter dif- 
ferently. He could see that there was a look of 
considerable apprehension visible on the peaked 
face of Conrad. Elmer scented some kind of 
trouble at once. The boy had sought them out, 
possibly sent with a message by his mother. 

Lil Artha had entirely suspended operations 
with the pelt which he had been engaged in fasten- 
ing to a crude but effective stretching board, 
fashioned after the directions he had received 
146 


A CALL FOR HELP 


147 


from the old scientist and trapper some of the 
boys had visited a while before.* 

Lil Artha loved good music, in which he differed 
from George. Hence he had felt considerable 
interest in all Elmer told them about Conrad being 
the direct descendant of the famous violinist, Ovid 
Anderson, of whom he had often heard. He was 
in truth quite eager himself to hear the child play, 
though ready to take Elmer’s word for it that 
Conrad was the possessor of wonderful genius. 

As Elmer hastened toward the spot Lil Artha 
looked around and discovered him. 

“Hi ! here’s your young friend come to hunt you 
up, Elmer!” he called out. “He is just telling me 
that his mother sent him. I hope now there’s 
nothing gone wrong over at their place. If we can 
do anything, of course we’d be only too willing.” 

The boy shot him a look of gratitude at hear- 
ing Lil Artha say this. Then he turned eagerly 
toward Elmer. 

“Mother sent me over to see you,” he went on 
to say in a voice that quivered a little despite his 
manly effort to control his feelings. 

“I hope she isn’t sick, Conrad 1” ventured the 
scout-master, anxiously. 

“No, it’s father,” the boy said after he had 
gulped several times. “You see, he hasn’t come 
home ; and we’re so afraid something dreadful has 
happened to him.” 

* See “The Hickory Ridge Boy Scouts Storm-Bound.” 


148 TENDERFOOT SQUAD 

Elmer looked doubly concerned. 

“Do you mean be was away from borne during 
that awful storm last night?” be went on to ask. 

The other nodded bis bead, and then managed 
to explain further. Even the proximity of Elmer 
seemed to have already done him much good ; for 
there was a certain atmosphere connected with 
the resolute scout-leader that inspired the utmost 
confidence. 

“He started to go to the lake that is farthest 
away, for there are two small ones, you may not 
know,” Conrad explained. “He had some set lines 
there that needed attention, and we wanted the 
fish for eating, too. But father hacked out once, 
for he said he had wrenched his leg and felt a 
little lame. But in the end he decided to start, 
though mother didn’t just like him to go.” 

“About what time was that, Conrad?” asked 
Elmer, in his methodical way, eager to grasp the 
full details so he could figure out the answer. 

“Just about an hour before the storm came 
along,” the boy told him. “Father said he be- 
lieved it would hold off long enough for him to 
get there and back, but his leg must have kept him 
from walking as fast as he generally does. So 
the storm broke, and we kept watching through 
the window when we could see anything, for the 
rain and the flying leaves. But night came, and 
oh ! what a night we had, mother and I. It never 
seemed to end. I did fall asleep somehow, but 


A CALL FOR HELP 


149 


I don’t believe she once shut her eyes — poor 
mother.” 

Elmer was fearful of the worst. A sturdy man 
like J em Shock, accustomed to buffeting the rough 
storms to be met with in the woods of a summer, 
was not likely to stay away from those he loved 
unless something terrible had happened to him. 
Elmer shivered as he remembered those dreadful 
crashes in the depth of the forest, each signaling 
the collapse of some mighty tree that had breasted 
the gales of a century, perhaps, only to meet its 
fate in the end. 

“And then your mother thought we might help 
find your father, did she 1 ?” asked the sympathetic 
Lil Artha; while the others crowded around, lis- 
tening with white faces to the conversation; for 
even the two tenderfeet could realize how serious 
the conditions must prove to be. 

“Yes, that is why I am here,” said the manly 
little fellow, whose correct manner of speech as- 
tonished Lil Artha, himself apt to be more or less 
“slangy,” and even ungrammatical, in his careless 
boyish way. “She knew of no one else close by 
to turn to ; and Elmer was so kind, she said. Oh ! 
please come with me, and help find father. We 
are afraid that he was caught under one of the fall- 
ing trees ; or he may have tripped in the darkness, 
with that lame leg giving way under him, and 
fallen into some terrible hole.” 

Elmer’s mind was of course made up on the in- 


150 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


stant. Indeed, such an appeal never came to a 
scout camp without being immediately accepted; 
for every fellow who so proudly wears the khaki 
has it implanted in his heart that he must eagerly 
grasp such golden opportunities to prove his 
worth, and be of assistance to those who are in 
distress. 

Elmer knew, too, that he could depend on his 
comrades to back him up. Lil Artha, of course, 
must go along, for the tall scout’s excellence as 
a tracker was well known, and this might come in 
very handy before their end was accomplished. 

Then it would be of more or less benefit to the 
tenderfeet to have a share in his rescue work; 
Elmer hailed the opportunity to increase their 
fund of woodcraft knowledge with eagerness. 
They could pick up more valuable points through 
practical experience than by means of any books 
or technical advice. 

As for George, he must stay by the camp. El- 
mer remembered just then that George had been 
limping, more or less, and complained of having 
stubbed his toe since breakfast. Then it would 
be best for him not to walk so far, or he might be 
lamed for the balance of their stay in camp. 

The scout-master quickly explained his plan of 
campaign. George, of course, frowned at first, 
and took on the look of a martyr; but then that 
was his customary way, and Elmer paid very little 
attention to it except to say that “a stitch in time 


A CALL FOR HELP 


151 


saves nine”; and that George might thank his 
lucky stars he did not have to go along, hut could 
rest himself, and let that injured foot have a 
chance to get well again. 

Conrad was wild for them to get started, and 
so Elmer lost as little time as possible. Before 
he went, however, he made sure to carry along 
with him several things he thought might be 
needed in case they found Jem with a broken leg — 
he only hoped it would be no worse than that, for 
many a man had had his back broken by the fall 
of a tree. 

“Lil Artha, be sure not to forget the camp ax,” 
he called out. 

Of course that excited the curiosity of the two 
greenhorns, and seeing the look of bewilderment 
which they exchanged, Elmer took occasion to ex- 
plain just a little. 

“If Jem has been badly hurt in any way, and 
lies several miles away from home,” Elmer told 
them, “we would want to make some sort of 
stretcher so as to carry him back to his cabin. 
A hatchet or an ax is indispensable under such 
conditions ; and you may have a chance to see just 
how it’s done.” 

George saw them go away with a wry face, for 
he did not like to be cheated out of any pleasure ; 
still, when he stepped around and found how his 
foot hurt if he made any unusual exertion, he must 


152 TENDERFOOT SQUAD 

have realized on second thoughts that Elmer knew 
best. 

Elmer had an idea at first of getting Conrad 
to head toward home, when they were well upon 
the trail leading toward the lake, and which the 
boy had said he could show them. Upon suggest- 
ing such a thing, however, he immediately met 
with a prompt refusal. 

“No, mother told me to take you to the second 
lake, and I shall,” Conrad said firmly. “Oh ! I can 
stand much more than you would believe; I am 
stronger than I look. And I have been over the 
trail with father, many times. What does a few 
miles matter when father may be lying ' there, 
and suffering terribly? Besides, mother depends 
on me to take you there. What if you went alone 
and could not find it, for, you see, it is hidden in 
the woods, and not at all easy to see if you haven’t 
been over the trail before. He might lie there for 
hours if that happened. So I must go.” 

Of course that settled it. Elmer could not have 
the heart to deny the lad the privilege he de- 
manded. Besides, he knew that on the whole it 
would be much better for them to have some one 
along who was acquainted with the lay of the land. 
They might go astray, experienced though two of 
them were in the secrets of woodcraft; for con- 
fusing trails might deceive them, especially after 
the storm had washed away Jem’s late footprints. 

And so they hurried along. Little Conrad 


A CALL FOR HELP 


153 


walked as though eager to even run; and more 
than once Elmer had to restrain the anxious lad. 
He saw that Conrad was worked up to a feverish 
pitch that was not good for him; and accordingly 
Elmer made it his business to try and reassure 
the little fellow. 

“Depend on it we’ll find your father, Conrad” 
he went on to say in that steady tone of his that 
carried weight, and could soothe even the most 
troubled breast like “balm of Gilead,” as Lil Ar- 
tha slily told Rufus, trotting along at his side. 
“And the chances are a broken leg will be the ex- 
tent of his injuries. Why, he may not even be 
so badly off as that, you know. Perhaps he was 
called on to help some other unfortunate family 
in that storm, and has been held up on that 
account.” 

But Conrad sadly shook his wise little head. 
He knew Elmer only meant to encourage him ; and 
that even he could have little hope such a strange 
thing had happened. 

“Oh! Pd like to believe that, Elmer,” he said, 
with half a sob, “but there is no other family near 
enough for such a thing to happen. But Pm still 
hoping for the best. Mother told me to keep think- 
ing that way. She will not believe he could be 
taken away from us while we need him so much. 
Yes, we must find him, poor, poor father!” 

All this while they were heading in a certain 
direction that Elmer knew would, in due time, un- 


154 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


less they changed their course, take them to the 
cabin in the clearing, where he had met Conrad’s 
father and mother. 

Jnst as he expected, however, eventually the hoy 
brought them to a halt. 

“See,” he called out, as he pointed ahead, 
“there is where the trail lies. One way is home, 
the other the first Take, with the second one farther 
away. Now we must keep right on, and listen 
as we go. I shall call out, too, ever so often, for 
if he hears my voice and can answer he will let 
us know where he lies.” 

As they started to follow what was a plain trail, 
every one had his senses on the alert, expecting 
to make some sort of discovery sooner or later. 
Rufus and the other tenderfoot scout were very 
much excited. It was their first experience on 
missionary work, and it gripped their hearts with 
an intensity they may never have felt before. 


CHAPTER XIV 


SCOUTS TO THE RESCUE 

Every step they took now was carrying them 
on toward the twin lakes that nestled amidst the 
woods and valleys, their presence really unsus- 
pected by the vast majority of people living in 
towns within thirty miles of the place. Elmer 
himself was wild to try the fishing there, for he 
fancied that the bass must be enormous fellows, 
and as gamey as could be found anywhere. Lil 
Artha, too, would be sure to want to make more 
than one trip across country, and spend a few 
hours casting in the almost virgin waters in the 
solitudes where sportsmen had possibly seldom 
invaded. 

Conrad kept up amazingly, but then it was love 
that gave him additional strength, and Elmer 
knew full well what that could do for any one. 
Many times they heard some slight sound that 
gave them a start, for their nerves being on edge 
they imagined every such noise to be a feeble cry 
for help. The snappy bark of a red squirrel as 
he clung head downward to the lower trunk of 
155 


156 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


a tree, and watched the intruders of his sacred 
realm ; the sudden cawing of a startled crow ; the 
rasping cry of a blue jay; or it might be the dis- 
tant screech of an eagle poised above some fish- 
hawk that had darted down and secured its din- 
ner which the bald-headed robber of the air 
would snatch away from him presently, after a 
swift pursuit upwards — all these they heard, and 
many times did one of the greenhorns ask to be 
told what it meant. 

Still nothing was seen or heard to indicate that 
Jem Shock had been overtaken by a falling tree 
while on his way from the first lake. They did 
come across several such overthrown monarclis 
of the forest that had fallen close to the trail ; and 
once the way was really blocked by a mass of 
broken limbs, together with the heavy trunk of a 
tree that had come crashing down. 

Conrad darted hastily forward before Elmer 
could interfere, and was looking, oh, so eagerly, 
and with such an expression of anxiety, for any 
sign to indicate that the dear one he sought might 
be lying under the wreckage. 

“Father, father!” he called out, with such a 
plaintive ring to his voice that Eufus felt some- 
thing rising in his throat; while Alec McGregor 
might have been seen to turn his head aside, and 
then violently blow his nose, as though he had 
taken cold. 

But there was no response. Elmer and Lil 


SCOUTS TO THE RESCUE 


157 


Artha went all around the fallen tree, and even 
crawled underneath the same to make positive 
that Jem was not there. Finally even Conrad 
became assured as to this, for he expressed an 
eagerness to once more go on. 

So they proceeded. From the lay of the land, 
and other signs that his quick eye caught, Elmer 
guessed that they could not be far away from the 
first lake. Perhaps he was guided somewhat in 
making this decision by the sight of that fish-hawk 
or osprey, which he knew would be apt to hover 
over a body of water, since it must obtain its 
whole sustenance from the lakes. 

“What’s that glistening in the sunlight yonder, 
Elmer?” suddenly asked Alec, who, it seemed, 
possessed a pair of incredibly keen eyes. 

Lil Artha laughed. 

“That’s one on us, Elmer,” he remarked, “when 
a tenderfoot is the first to discover the presence 
of water. I reckon now, Alec, you’ve got the mak- 
ing of a pretty good scout in you, if you stick at 
it; and they do say the Scotch are the most per- 
severing chaps going. That’s the lake, the first 
one Conrad told us about, I should say.” 

“Yes, that’s the first one,” hurriedly admitted 
the boy, “and we’ll soon reach its border. You 
will say that it’s a lovely little sheet of water, too. 
Father told me he had never set eyes on one that 
struck him as more beautiful. And I love to sit 
and look out over it when the wind dimples the 


158 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


surface, or it is so quiet that you can see a picture 
all along the shore, with the trees reflected in the 
water like a big looking-glass.” 

“Then we’ll have to call it Mirror Lake,” said 
Lil Artha, struck by the wonderful poetic way in 
which the small boy described things, which may 
in part have come to him through his mother. 

“Yes, that is what my mother calls it,” Conrad 
instantly told him; “for once she crossed over 
with me to see the water. We shall be there very 
soon now, in less than ten minutes I think.” 

Nothing further occurred to startle them during 
the balance of the time that was consumed in cov- 
ering the ground separating them from the shore 
of the lake. When Elmer and his three comrades 
found themselves staring out upon that wonder- 
fully clear and altogether charming body of water, 
they felt that words must fail to describe it and 
do justice. Elmer had looked upon a good many 
pretty lakes, both large and small, but never one 
the equal of this. 

As for Lil Artha, he knew now what would be 
occupying considerable of his spare time during 
the balance of their stay in camp. Why, even as 
he looked he could see big bass “break” here and 
there, as though they might be feeding on flies, 
late though the season was. All the sporting 
blood Lil Artha possessed was on fire at the sight. 
He had resolved to give up much of his love for 
hunting, because of the change that had taken 


SCOUTS TO THE RESCUE 


159 


place of late in his ideas concerning the cruelty of 
such sport ; but nothing would ever cause him to 
lose that eager desire to match his wits and a 
slender line with a fly attached to the leader 
against the strength and cunning of a bronze- 
backed black bass, and see which could win in the 
struggle for supremacy. 

“Oh! listen, please!” exclaimed the boy, anx- 
iously, his very soul in his voice. 

“That was only a kingfisher calling,” said Lil 
Artha, who knew all about such things ; “see, there 
he flits across that little bayou, and perches on 
the limb that overhangs the water. He’s after his 
dinner, I guess, and was calling to his mate. But 
lead the way, Conrad, and we’ll keep along after 
you.” 

They began to follow the uneven indentations 
of the shore. Elmer knew that this must be the 
favorite course taken by the fish poacher when 
going to see what his set lines held. A plain trail 
it was, and even Rufus or Alec might have fol- 
lowed it most of the way; though at times they 
would have hard work to pick it out, since the 
heavy rain had washed things pretty badly. 

But Conrad knew where he was going, and just 
at which point they were to turn their backs on 
Mirror Lake, heading for its mate near by. 

“We’ll like as not run across the intake or outlet 
of this water,” Lil Artha told the two new scouts, 
“because, of course, the lakes are connected by 


160 TENDERFOOT SQUAD 

a little stream. And sure enough, there it is right 
now.” 

Both tenderfeet were visibly impressed with 
this show of knowledge on the part of the elon- 
gated scout. Doubtless they mentally determined 
that eventually they too would be able to tell just 
such things by using the power of deduction that 
a scout’s education puts into his head. 

Conrad turned sharply upon arriving at the 
small stream. Elmer noticed that it ran from the 
lake they were just in the act of leaving; and this 
fact told him the other must set somewhat lower 
down, and have an outlet of its own. 

All these things were interesting enough to fel- 
lows who had made a habit of observing what- 
ever took place around them ; nevertheless, Elmer 
wished the main object of their coming might be 
attained without much further loss of time. He 
was himself beginning to grow exceedingly nerv- 
ous from the long-continued strain ; and could un- 
derstand just how poor Conrad must feel. 

Lil Artha was more and more amazed to learn 
what a wild bit of scenery lay within thirty miles 
of the home town. He never would have believed 
it possible, had he been told about it by any one ; 
but seeing is a convincing way of settling things, 
and Lil Artha certhinly knew he could depend on 
his own eyes. 

Through small openings among the trees they 
quickly caught glimpses of the other sheet of 


SCOUTS TO THE RESCUE 


161 


water. The second lake was about the same in 
size as the first, but lacked some of the wonder- 
fully rugged surroundings that made the other so 
beautiful. Still, had they not set eyes on Mirror 
Lake the boys would have quickly called this one 
a spot well worth a long tramp just to see, not to 
mention its potentialities along the line of fishing. 

Once again they had come across a fallen tree 
that lay close to the trail, even bridging the little 
stream with its trunk, and forming a picture that 
Elmer immediately resolved to take with his snap- 
shot camera before leaving the region. 

“Looks to me,” remarked Rufus, shrewdly, “as 
if the old storm must have hit this particular sec- 
tion a whole lot more violently than any place 
we’ve struck so far. Right from where we stand 
I can see three, yes, four trees that have been 
uprooted, and tumbled over, all lying in the same 
direction, too, which is odd, I should think.” 

“Oh! that’s a common occurrence,” said Lil 
Artha, “I’ve seen hundreds of fallen trees in a 
place where a hurricane passed through the tim- 
ber, and they lay like a sheaf of matches, all in the 
same identical direction. You see, the same wind 
took them down, as it did here. But so far as I 
can notice, there’s no sign of anybody under this 
tree; how about it, Elmer f’ 

“No, he wasn’t here when this fellow crashed 
down,” admitted the other, in a satisfied tone. 


162 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


“He had either passed farther along, or else had 
not reached this place.” 

“Then let’s go on farther,” pleaded Conrad. 

Lil Artha knew that their chances of finding 
Jem were gradually getting less and less, as they 
covered more of the ground he must have passed 
over. He wondered what they should do if after 
all their efforts they could manage to obtain no 
trace of the missing man. Perhaps it would be 
good policy to head for the cabin, in the hope that 
since Conrad had left, his father might have man- 
aged to make his way home, and consequently 
they would find him there, too weak and exhausted 
to start out again. 

“We must go around the lake, to make sure,” 
the boy was saying in a strained tone that cut 
Elmer to the heart, because he could understand 
how Conrad must be beginning to fear that his 
father was dead, since he did not answer any of 
his cries. 

As they began to circle the new sheet of water, 
Conrad again lifted his childish treble and kept 
calling that one word: “father!” He seemed to 
have faith to believe that if only he could reach 
the ears of Jem Shock, an answer of some kind 
would be immediately forthcoming. 

Again his appeals were mocked by some of the 
startled birds, unaccustomed to having their soli- 
tary haunts invaded by two-legged creatures that 
gave forth such doleful sounds. Step by step the 


SCOUTS TO THE RESCUE 163 

little party persevered along their course, follow- 
ing the shore of the second lake. It was harder 
going than before, because of the density of the 
growth surrounding this body of water ; but Con- 
rad kept along, always on the lookout for signs 
or sounds that would assure him success was near 
at hand. 

After all, it was Lil Artha who gave the word, 
and he thrilled them when he went on to say: 

“I think I heard a voice just then, fellows, and 
it seemed to come from over on the other side of 
that little bayou just ahead of us. Get a good grip 
on yourself, Conrad, because mebbe we’re going 
to find him right away.” 

The boy was really beyond the power of mak- 
ing any verbal reply, but the look he threw Lil 
Artha, because of those cheering words, was full 
of gratitude. To gain the other side of the in- 
dentation, they must go around for quite some 
distance. Conrad, too, had by now managed to 
remember something; and finding his voice he 
weakly remarked: 

“Oh, yes! I know now where we are. Father 
told me he always had the best luck with a line 
set from that point over there. The fish seem to 
be larger than anywhere else about the lake, too. 
Oh! and I can see that there is another big tree 
down, right in sight!” 

Elmer knew that this was so, for he himself had 


164 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


already made the same significant discovery. He 
raised his voice and gave a lusty shout. 

“Jem — Jem Shock, are you there V 9 was what 
he called. 

Then they all listened eagerly. A woodpecker 
tapped noisily on a dead stump; but even the 
breeze seemed to temporarily stop rustling 
through the tops of the tall trees, as though sym- 
pathizing with their anxiety, and bent on giving 
all possible chances for their hearing any reply 
to this hail. 

“There, somebody answered you, Elmer,” 
snapped Rufus, delightedly. 

“We’ve found him,” said Elmer, gravely. “Be 
brave now, my boy,” as he laid a hand affection- 
ately on the shoulders of poor trembling Conrad. 
“For one thing, he’s alive, and that’s enough to be 
thankful for.” 

“Yes, oh! yes, I am thankful!” cried the boy, 
“but please hurry, Elmer. Oh ! what he must have 
suffered; but he did answer you, didn’t he, and 
so he must be alive! Poor father. We’re com- 
ing !” he tried to call aloud, though the effort only 
resulted in a screech; “Pm here, father, your own 
Conrad! Mother sent me to find you. Just be 
patient, and we’ll soon reach you. Oh! if only 
I had wings how glad I would be !” 

Elmer and Lil Artha led the way. They quickly 
started around the tongue of marshy land border- 
ing the little bay, for the ground was low there; 


SCOUTS TO THE RESCUE 


165 


and doubtless the natural outlet of the twin lakes 
would be discovered somewhere in that section, the 
scouts concluded. 

Now they were advancing upon the fallen tree. 
They could see it was a big one, and that it reached 
almost to the water’s edge as it lay there, a dere- 
lict of the recent storm. 

Every eye was keenly on the alert to discover 
a first sign of the unfortunate poacher who had 
been caught, not by the stern hand of the law, but 
through a freak of the storm, and pinned to the 
ground, so that he was utterly helpless to free 
himself from the toils. 

Then Conrad gave a sudden shriek. 

“ I see him!” was the burden of his shrill cry. 
“Oh! there, he moved and tried to wave his hand 
at me! Elmer, did you see him do that? He’s 
really alive, and that is enough for me !” 


CHAPTER XV 


RUFUS MAKES A STAND 

They were quickly at the tree, for every one 
just had to keep up with Conrad, who fairly flew 
along, such was his eagerness. Elmer saw imme- 
diately that they had a pretty tough job before 
them, for the tree in falling had caught Jem Shock 
fairly and squarely in a trap. A good-sized limb 
bore him down so that he could hardly do more 
than breathe. 

His face was streaked with blood from various 
scratches, and so he looked considerably worse 
than might otherwise have been the case. At sight 
of Conrad, however, he actually smiled, which was 
enough to prove what a hold the lad had upon the 
father’s heart. 

“We’ll get you out of that in short order, Jem,” 
said Elmer, promptly. “You see, we fetched our 
ax along for just such a purpose. Lil Artha, get 
busy, and start a cross-cut of this limb. Strike 
in about here. I’ll spell you if you want me to.” 

“Shucks! watch the chips fly, that’s all!” jeered 
the tall fellow, as he immediately set to work ; and 
the lively ring of steel smiting hard wood rang 
166 


RUFUS MAKES A STAND 


167 


through the aisles of the adjacent forest as well 
as out upon the water of the second lake, where 
a loon was swimming, and watching these new- 
comers suspiciously. 

Elmer noted the fact that the limb seemed to 
have fallen directly across only one of Jem’s legs, 
a rather peculiar circumstance, by the way, he 
considered. There was not the least doubt in his 
mind but that the leg must have been broken; 
indeed, he could already see that this was so. Ap- 
parently, then, they must be ready to make that 
stretcher which had already been mentioned to 
the greenhorns; but then such a task presented 
few real difficulties to experienced scouts, trained 
in all the ways of the woods, where every one had 
to Jcnoiv how to do things. 

Conrad was fondling his father, who had one 
free arm about the shoulders of the little chap. 
No doubt Conrad took occasion to tell Jem how 
kind these new friends of his had been, and how 
readily they had responded to his appeal for as- 
sistance. 

The scout-master wondered just how Jem would 
take it. That proud spirit of his was bound to 
show itself. He might feel indebted to the others, 
and not mind so much, but to realize that one of 
his rescuers was the son and heir of the very 
Snodgrass whom he believed he had such abun- 
dant cause to despise and hate, would gall him, and 
“cut to the quick.” 


168 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


Yes, Elmer, watching, could see the different 
shades of feeling crossing the strong face of the 
injured man, just as sometimes he had observed 
clouds chasing athwart the blue sky in fleecy ar- 
ray. Love for the child; pain because of his in- 
jury and long wait there by the lakeside ; suspicion 
concerning the presence of Rufus Snodgrass, and 
something like genuine gratitude toward the rest 
of the scouts — all these varying emotions Elmer 
could detect as they passed in review across the 
face of the other. 

In the endeavor to take Jem’s thoughts from 
his late precarious condition, Elmer now started 
to talk with him, asking how it happened that a 
woodsman of his long experience should be caught 
by a falling tree in a storm. 

The man laughed a bit harshly, as though dis- 
gusted with himself. 

“It was an accident, pure and simple, boy,” he 
went on to say. “Jem Shock never believed he 
would be caught like a rat in a trap ; but I ducked 
the wrong way, my foot slipped, and before I 
could recover I was down. So I’ve lain here for 
hours, hoping my Conrad might come along, for 
he knew about the lakes, and where I went to look 
after my fish-lines. I never once thought about 
you boys. Yes, I’m glad, of course, you came, be- 
cause Conrad never could have got me out alone ; 
only it hurts me to be beholden to Ms son.” 

And Rufus, hovering near by, heard this. His 


RUFUS MAKES A STAND 


169 


face flushed painfully, and he bit his lips until 
the blood came, while his eyes flashed indignantly. 
With an effort, however, he managed to get a grip 
on himself. Perhaps it was the look he caught 
on the face of the scout-master that brought this 
about. At any rate, when Rufus spoke, his voice 
was fairly calm ; and, moreover, there was a note 
of entreaty in it. 

“Jem Shock,” he said, in thrilling tones, while 
the methodical “chunk” of Lil Artha’s ax told liow 
its sharp edge was biting deeply into the hard 
wood of that limb by which the man was pinned 
down, “please listen to me. I can understand just 
how you must feel while you believe my father 
did you a great wrong. I don’t blame you a par- 
ticle either, for feeling mean toward him. But 
you must know that sometimes terrible mistakes 
do happen, and that even the best of men may 
blunder. I tell you I am dead sure such a thing 
came about, and that at this day my father is 
utterly unconscious of the fact that you believe 
he wronged you.” 

“Not quite that, youngster,” said the man 
grimly. “He knows before now what my opinion 
of Hiram Snodgrass is; because, after I learned 
that he’d come to a town near by to live, I sent 
him a letter.” 

Rufus refused to be disconcerted by this start- 
ling intelligence. 

“All right,” he said, “I’m real glad you did, 


170 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


Jem. My father ought to know what a cloud his 
name is under. I meant to tell him all about it 
myself just as soon as I got home from this trip. 
Make your mind up youTl hear from him before 
long, Jem. He’ll never rest easy until he’s in- 
vestigated the thing to the bottom, and found out 
the whole truth. If some men bamboozled you, 
and let you believe he was in the bunch, my fa- 
ther’ll fix them, all right. They’ll do the right 
thing by you when he gets after them with a sharp 
stick, or I’ll eat my head. I guess I ought to 
know my dad better than anybody else could, 
and he’s straight as a die, even if he is a real 
estate speculator.” 

Elmer was visibly impressed with the splendid 
way in which Rufus stood up for his father. He 
only hoped the elder Snodgrass might prove to be 
just the kind of man the boy claimed. Jem Shock, 
too, could not but be somewhat affected by the 
sturdy championship of the accused man’s cause ; 
though a sneer found a place on his blood-streaked 
face, and his eye still showed signs of coldness and 
unbelief. 

At least, he allowed the subject to drop as 
though he did not wish to say anything further 
in that line, which was so unpleasant. He con- 
fined himself to petting Conrad, and giving Lil 
Artha further directions as to just how to finish 
his task; for, as a competent woodsman, Jem 
Shock knew all about the use of an ax. Elmer 


RUFUS MAKES A STAND 


171 


could see that, despite his agonizing condition, the 
man had kept his wits about him. 

Finally, the limb separated, and after that the 
boys, by uniting their strength, were enabled to 
raise the portion that still held Jem pinned down. 
He wriggled free, although the pain was so great 
that he almost fainted. 

After that, Elmer took charge again. Water 
was brought, and a fire made to warm it in the pail 
Alec had been told to carry along. Once it was 
heated, Elmer proceeded to cleanse first Jem’s 
face, so that he might not look so terribly grim; 
and after that he started to get at the broken leg. 

He found that it was indeed pretty serious, for 
it had swollen dreadfully on account of the neg- 
lect; but Elmer was a pretty good amateur sur- 
geon, as his chums all knew, and understood just 
how to go about setting the fractured bone, after 
carefully washing the limb. 

Alec and Eufus had their hands full just about 
that time. They did not want to lose a single 
thing of all that was going on around them, and 
were often called upon by Elmer to lend a helping 
hand. It was noticeable that Rufus was always 
the one to do this. Jem seemed to visibly shrink 
from the touch of the boy’s fingers, as though they 
affected him somehow; but even this aversion 
failed to prevent Rufus from persevering. Evi- 
dently, he was determined that Jem should know 
that the Snodgrass family did not have all the bad 


in 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


traits with which he, Jem, had in his mind en- 
dowed them; and, besides, Rufus was bound to 
keep in close touch with the man who had so long 
believed ill of his father. 

It pleased Elmer more than a little to notice 
this trait in the tenderfoot. He believed Rufus 
had the making of a good scout, and that asso- 
ciation with the other fellows of the troop would 
in time serve to cast out the bad traits in his char- 
acter mainly produced through the mistaken 
weakness of his adoring mother, who had always 
given in to his every whim. 

But the wonderfully clever way in which Elmer 
managed to handle that broken leg, and then bind 
it up carefully, was not the only thing Rufus and 
Alec had to watch in their ardent desire to acquire 
practical knowledge of what a scout should know. 

There was the industrious Lil Artha, working 
away like a trooper, and making a rude but amply 
sufficient stretcher, on which the wounded man 
could recline, while four sturdy boys bore him 
toward his home, since it would be utterly impos- 
sible for Jem to even hobble, with that injured 
limb under him. 

Both greenhorns watched the stretcher grow, 
and marveled at the skill displayed by the accom- 
plished Lil Artha, who felt proud to be the one 
to show them how easy it was for a fellow who had 
been taught to bring his knowledge into play when 
the emergency arose. 


RUFUS MAKES A STAND 


173 


Finally everything was done. Elmer had bound 
the leg up so firmly that Jem was full of praise for 
his work. 

“ I want to say that yon boys sure know yonr 
business,” he told Elmer, still refusing to look 
at' the persistent Rufus, who continued to hover 
near him, despite all these rebuffs, for he was a 
stubborn fellow, it seemed, and would not aban- 
don his plans easily. “I’ve heard some about 
scouts, and thought they didn’t amount to much, 
but I reckon I’ll have to change my mind after this. 
A regular sawbones couldn’t have done the job 
neater, Elmer. I’m thanking you for it too ; and 
I calculate that a lot Conrad’s been telling us 
about you must be true.” 

“Oh! it is, father, it is!” ejaculated the pleased 
boy, with tears in his eyes. “Elmer is just a grand 
fellow; and besides, he promised me that I’d get 
a chance to be taught by some one who would know 
what to do with me. You’ll not set your foot down 
on that, will you, father?” 

The man smiled grimly, though this changed 
to a tender look as he smoothed the fair hair of 
his little son. 

“We’ll see, Conrad, we’ll see,” he told him. 
“Just now it don’t look like I could set one of my 
feet down on anything for a month or more. But 
they’re going to have a hard job of it getting a 
heavy man like me all the way home.” 

“Oh! don’t you worry about that, Jem Shock!” 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


174 

sang out Lil Artha, blithely enough; “we know 
just how to go about it ; and besides, it isn’t going 
to be such a very tough task divided among four 
of us. Now’, Rufus, you can take the upper left 
end, and I’ll look after the right. Elmer and Alec 
will manage the foot of the stretcher easy 
enough.” 

Rufus shot him a look of gratitude, showing that 
he readily understood how the wise Lil Artha had 
purposely allotted him one of the holds that would 
be apt to keep him as close to Jem’s face as pos- 
sible. The elongated scout evidently considered 
it good policy to force Jem to grow accustomed 
to the proximity of a Snodgrass ; while familiarity 
is said to often breed contempt, in this case Lil 
Artha meant that it should be the cause of a grow- 
ing confidence. 

So they gaily started forth. Conrad ran along- 
side, and at times persisted in keeping hold of his 
father’s hand. He would now and then utter 
words calculated to cheer the other up, as though 
he feared that the strain of the trip, on top of his 
father’s condition after lying there so long un- 
attended, might cause him to show signs of a 
relapse. 

But they got along famously. The first lake was 
soon reached and put behind them. Lil Artha 
cast several longing glances over his shoulder as 
they left, and it did not need the aid of a prophet 
to tell that he was making up his mind to be back 


RUFUS MAKES A STAND 


175 


there the first thing in the morning, to test the 
voracity of the bass fighters that dwelt in those 
waters. 

Following the plain trail, they continued to put 
much ground between themselves and the spot 
where they had found Jem. The man bore the 
journey well, all things considered, though many 
times Elmer could see him compress his jaws as 
if to better stand the acute pain that shot through 
his bruised body. 

So they finally drew near the clearing where the 
cabin stood. Elmer, who had been there once 
before, as will be remembered, saw familiar signs 
to tell him of this fact, for he had impressed cer- 
tain landmarks on his memory. 

“Oh, listen !” suddenly exclaimed Conrad, I hear 
voices, and they are men talking, too, strangers. 
What can it mean, father V 9 

The man on the stretcher winced painfully, and 
then smiled grimly. 

“Well, things generally come with a rush, Con- 
rad, 1 ” he said. “There are some men that have 
been wanting to interview me for a long time now. 
I reckon they’ve found the nerve to come away 
up here, just to see what’s going on. But they’ve 
got to have proof in order to convict a man of 
poaching game out of season. Anyhow, I’m in no 
condition to resist now ; and I don’t believe they’ll 
stir up any evidence around the cabin. Woods 
mutton is scarce these days.” 


176 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


It was Rufus who now uttered a cry. 

“There, I can see several men now in front of 
a cabin,” he went on to say, “and oh! as sure as 
you live, one of them is my own father ! Do you 
hear that, Jem Shock, the Snodgrass you’ve been 
believing cheated you in a land deal has come 
straight up here to see you just as soon as he got 
that letter of yours. Does that look like guilt, tell 
me? Oh! something is going to happen, and be- 
fore long you’ll be changing your mind about the 
Snodgrass tribe!” 

Quickening their pace, the little procession has- 
tened to reach the cabin, where several men stood 
watching their coming, with both wonder and in- 
terest showing on their faces. The good wife ran 
out to meet them, and was soon crying copiously 
over the figure on the stretcher, though Jem told 
her it was all right, and not to worry. 


CHAPTER XVI 


“all’s well that ends well!” 

It was a moment of considerable suspense to 
the boys when Mr. Snodgrass, bustling forward, 
looked down at the injured man. Jem with 
clinched teeth glared up at him, but said nothing, 
waiting for the other to speak. 

“I’m sorry to see you hurt in this way, Jem,” 
said the magnate. “Just as soon as I received 
your letter I went to the city, and had a little 
heart-to-heart talk with Messrs. Bolten and Hall, 
my former partners in that real-estate deal of 
some years ago. I threatened them with imme- 
diate prosecution if they did not own up to de- 
ceiving both of us; and Jem, here they are ready, 
to eat humble pie, and make good that property 
they defrauded you out of some years ago. Fool 
that I was never to have suspected the truth ; but 
thank Heaven, it isn’t too late yet. We’ll soon fix 
this thing; and after they’ve made good, Jem 
Shock, I’m going to offer you my check for fifty 
thousand dollars for that land of yours; because 
it’s doubled in value since you let it pass from 
your hands.”' 


177 


178 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


Rufus fairly beamed with happiness. 

“What did I tell you, Jem Shock?” he burst out 
with. “I knew my father wouldn’t stand for a 
crooked real estate deal. He’s proud of the record 
he’s made, and lots of people think he’s the only 
honest land speculator there is. And now per- 
haps you will shake hands with him, Jem; yes, 
and with me, too. The Snodgrasses aren’t so very 
bad a tribe, once you get to know them.” 

Jem had some difficulty in grasping the won- 
derful change that had come about in his financial 
condition, when later on the two real estate men 
admitted that they had played a sharp trick upon 
him, for which they were genuinely sorry — Lil 
Artha winked several times very hard when he 
heard them say this, and thought of “alligator’s 
tears.” 

Jem even offered his hand to the man he had 
for years been condemning as an unworthy friend, 
and a treacherous dealer in land. 

Conrad was the happiest little fellow imagin- 
able. He would run from his father to Elmer and 
pat their hands; then back again to kiss his 
mother, and possibly shake hands with Lil Artha, 
Alec and Rufus. 

“It’s all happened because of the scouts coming 
up here to camp,” he said in the midst of his great 
joy. “Oh! what don’t we owe to you, Elmer?” 

“He fixed my broken leg as fine as any army sur- 
geon could have done, for one thing,” admitted 


ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL 179 

Jem Shock, now looking as though a great load 
had been taken oft his shoulders; “and for that 
alone I could always remember the boy. Yes, it’s 
been a great day for all of us. I’m glad now that 
tree caught me, and all the time I lie around wait- 
ing for the bone to knit, I’ll be saying that I got 
just what I deserved for thinking evil of any 
man.” 

“None of that, Jem,” said Mr. Snodgrass, with 
more or less asperity. “You were justified in hold- 
ing hard feelings toward me, and thinking me a 
scoundrel. For once in my life I allowed a pair 
of precious knaves to dupe me, and never sus- 
pected how matters stood until I had your letter. 
But I forced them to make restitution. I stood 
ready to land them both behind the bars if they 
refused.” 

Messrs. Bolten and Hall had departed before 
this was said, pleading an important engagement, 
and promising to do anything else Mr. Snodgrass 
demanded, so long as he kept his word not to make 
the affair public, as it would ruin their legitimate 
business to have it known that they had been con- 
cerned in one big shady deal. Doubtless their ears 
must have burned as they retraced their way in 
the direction of the car that had brought them 
from the distant station; but then, since all was 
now well, even Jem Shock could forgive them. 

While Mr. Snodgrass spent two days in camp 
with the boys, he had plenty of chances of hear- 


180 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


ing Conrad play, for the boy kept his promise to 
come over with his wonderful Stradivarius violin, 
and charm them with his magical music. The 
gentleman agreed with Elmer that the child was 
very precocious, and had the “touch” that had 
made his grandfather illustrious. 

“It would be a great crime,” he said, “if such 
wonderful genius failed to find expression. If 
his father was unable to send him to the right 
master Pd certainly insist on it myself. And be- 
tween us, boys, Pm determined on forcing Jem 
Shock to allow me to advance all the funds needed 
to put Conrad where he belongs. IPs the only 
way I can make up in part for my unconscious 
share in his troubles.” 

Later on this same thing was arranged, and 
Conrad, it is needless to say, is at present studying 
hard under the best violin teacher in New York. 
Those who watch his career are loud in their 
praise, and say that when his time comes to ap- 
pear in public, all such stars as Elman, Kreisler 
and Maud Powell will have to take a “back seat.” 

Of course since George had not been present 
when all these wonderful events came about, the 
others were forced to give him every possible op- 
portunity to learn the exciting details. He asked 
a thousand questions, and heard the whole story 
told over and over again, from the time the expe- 
dition left camp up to the unexpected meeting 


ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL 181 


between Jem and Mr. Snodgrass, and the hum- 
bling of the pair of precious real estate sharks. 

Indeed, it usually did take several tellings to 
convince so skeptical a fellow as Doubting George, 
especially when there was something quite out of 
the common going on. 

The balance of the scouts’ stay in camp up at 
Raccoon Bluff was filled with all sorts of good 
times. Lil Artha went fishing over at the twin 
lakes, and came back with as heavy a load of fish 
as he could stagger under. He announced that 
never before in all his varied experience had he 
known such gallant fighters as those bronzed- 
backed warriors of Mirror Lake. His arms fairly 
ached from reeling them in; and he would never 
forget what a glorious morning he had had there. 
Of course this caused Elmer also to long to wet 
a line ; and as Alec expressed a desire to see how 
the thing was done over in America — he had ac- 
tually caught a big salmon once upon a time in 
a Scotch loch — he insisted on going along. 

This was only a part of the glorious times they 
enjoyed. Rufus even got busy again with his sur- 
veyor’s outfit, and did a little more work, just 
to “keep his hand in,” he said; but as Alec had 
other things on the programme that he fancied 
much better than “running a line,” or “slashing” 
through a thicket with an ax and bush hook, he 
absolutely balked on giving up much more time 
to that sort of thing. 


182 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


They took pictures, and Elmer made sure to 
get one of the tree that in falling had arched the 
streamlet in such a remarkable way. Elmer also 
tried a few night exposures, catching some of the 
prowling ’coons in the act of stealing bait from 
a trap set so that when the trigger was sprung 
there would be a flashlight exposure, and the 
startled little animal would really take its own 
picture, being “caught in the act.” 

Besides they paid many visits to Jem’s cabin, 
always carrying over heaps of good things to eat, 
despite the protests of Conrad’s mother. Elmer 
explained that greedy George had deceived Rufus, 
who provided the provender for the week’s cam- 
paign; and that consequently they had brought 
enough alo'ng to last a whole month; which they 
hated to “tote” back again, and so wished her to 
accept a few trifles, because Jem would not be 
able to be moved for some weeks, and hence no 
supplies could be laid in. 

Conrad, of course, always played for them, and 
even George, whose ear for music was not of the 
best, for he rather preferred ragtime to “classical 
stuff,” admitted that the little fellow did wield 
a magical bow, and could fairly make that “fiddle 
talk” when he got down to serious business. 

They saw no more ferocious wildcats, though 
for several nights after the storm, Rufus com- 
plained that he was kept awake by some sort of 
plaintive mewing, though he was unable to exactly 


ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL 183 


locate the sounds. Elmer feared that this might 
be caused by a kitten left behind by the cat Lil 
Artha had been compelled to slay in order to save 
Alec from rough clawing. He even hunted around 
during the daytime, hoping to find the small beast, 
but was unable to do so. Finally, the mewing was 
heard no more; from which they concluded that 
the kitten had either succumbed to hunger, or else, 
being fairly able to provide for itself, had de- 
parted for other fields. 

The ’coons, however, afforded the campers no 
end of amusement by their curious antics. George 
gave it as his opinion that whoever named that 
particular section of country Kaccoon Bluff knew 
his business, for never had he seen one half so 
many of the “bushy-tails” as during their stay 
there. 

They proved to be great pests in the bargain, 
stealing whatever cooked food was left over; and 
becoming so tame, that it was a common occur- 
rence to have several prowling around at any time 
of the day; while at night one of the campers 
found it necessary to rush out of the tent several 
times during the period of darkness in order to 
“shoo” the impudent rascals away. 

Mr. Snodgrass had enjoyed himself heartily 
during the parts of two days he stayed with the 
boys. He expressed deep regret that pressing 
demands of business caused him to start back to 


184 


TENDERFOOT SQUAD 


town, Rufus seeing him safely to the nearest sta- 
tion, some six miles distant, as the crow flies. 

And from what they all saw of Mr. Snodgrass 
during his stay, the others were inclined to believe 
Rufus knew what he was talking about when he 
so boldly told Jem Shock that his father was as 
“honest as the day was long,” and “the best man 
that ever lived.” Elmer concluded that any father 
who had so lived that his boy believes this of him 
has a right to be proud, and feel that “example is 
much better than precept.” Too many fathers, 
Elmer realized, act upon the theory that a boy can 
maintain his respect for his parent who advises 
him to “do as I say, not as I do.” 

When finally the time came for breaking camp, 
the two tenderfeet felt sure they had made giant 
strides along the road that led to their goal — the 
distinction of becoming a first-class scout. They 
had learned innumerable things since leaving 
home; indeed, life looked altogether different 
nowadays, because they saw ten interesting things 
where before there had appeared but one. And 
the thirst for knowledge had gripped them so 
that never again would either Rufus or Alec be 
content to plod along as before, “seeing things 
as through a glass darkly,” and not more than 
half comprehending what wonders surround boys 
of today on every side, if only they have the 
vision to notice and comprehend. 

There is really no need for us to accompany 


ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL 185 


Elmer, George, Lil Artha and the tenderfoot 
squad home again. But the story of their achieve- 
ments while up there in camp at Raccoon Bluff 
will always make a bright page in the annals of 
the Hickory Ridge Boy Scouts. Of course we ex- 
pect to meet these good friends again at no far 
distant day, in the pages of another volume, 
wherein may be detailed further of their interest- 
ing and often thrilling adventures. Until that 
time comes we must lower the curtain, and write 
the last words, 


THE END 





J 









m: 



The Hickory Ridge Boy Scouts 

A SERIES OF BOOKS FOR BOYS 

By Capt. ALAN DOUGLAS, Scout-master 


These stories are from the pen of a writer who not only possesses 
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